The Chaos Demons
by Kulmanari
Summary: "I have stood on the edge of the abyss. I have seen the end of days. And I wondered, 'how did it come to this?"
1. Theatrical Trailer

**Theatrical Trailer**

The theater was entombed in near complete darkness as the advertisements cut off and the gathered audience waited impatiently for the movie they had spent money on to come see to start. Several groups of people were talking in low voices, adding to the background din of popcorn being munched on, sodas being sipped and the hum of the theater's air conditioning filling all corners of the stadium seating with frigid air.

The screen came to life and showed the familiar green screen proclaiming that the following preview was rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America and then it went black again. Then the preview began and the screen slowly began to brighten.

The skyline of a major metropolitan city was shrouded in thick black smoke and the audience heard the distant wails of emergency sirens and the screams of the city's inhabitants. Panning over the city now, the camera showed the true level of destruction below. Fires raged out of control and people were running everywhere, but whatever they were running from was off camera.

Abruptly the screen went black and then slowly the city came back into view, although it was clear that some time had passed. Many of the high rise buildings were missing from the skyline, others were so heavily damaged they looked charred fingers reaching up into the dark sky for salvation. Ash covered the streets, vehicles were strewn about in piles of rusted machinery looking as if they had once formed barricades that had obviously failed and not a sole moved in the city.

"We had no warning of what was to come…" A vaguely familiar voice said as the camera moved to ground level giving a close up view of the destruction.

"There was no prophecy or all powerful chosen one to save us all…" There was a brief flash that showed a man in black armor striking down a boy who wore similar red and gold armor and then the image changed to that of another city whose inhabitants were fighting for their lives.

"There was just a great darkness that descended upon us all…" A pair of up armored Army Humvees screeched to a halt and opened fire with their heavy mounted weapons. In between the handful of muzzle flashes a large horde of dark creatures could be seen surging towards them.

"And snuffed out the light of our world." The weapons stopped firing, screams marked the transition to darkness as the screen went blank and then all was silent.

"If only we had known what was coming…" There was a flash of reddish pink light and a horde of monstrous creatures ran past the camera too fast to be seen clearly and behind them walked several men and women clad in medieval style plate armor, their faces obscured in shadow.

"If only someone had the chance to go back and do it all over again…" the screen went black again and then the movie's title zoomed out until it fit the screen, blue light flickering behind the ice blue and white lettering.

"My name is Cody Martin,"

"And this is my story…"

**The Chaos Demons**

**# Now Playing #  
**


	2. Prologue: Second Chance

The Chaos Series by Kulmanari_  
_

_Truth Seeker - **The Chaos Demons** - Legend of the Black Knight - Reflections In Time_

**Prologue**

**"Second Chance"**

**_September 7th_**

"Run Cody…run…" Zachary Martin managed to whisper before gritting his teeth in response to the extreme pain he was in. A small part of his mind that was still coherent knew that he was dying. No person could walk away from having a sword driven into their chest.

Reaching out with his right hand, Zack managed to grasp the sheet off of his demolished bed and drew it closer, eventually pressing it against the entry wound to try and staunch the flow of blood. He had no idea why he was doing this. He was only delaying the inevitable. Soon he would be dead and there would be no one left to look out for Cody.

Cody… Tears of sadness mixed with the ones brought on by the physical agony he was in as he feared for his brother's life. What did the future hold in store for Cody? How would he survive without Zack to watch his back?

Zack was dimly aware of a series of blue flashes that annoyed his eyes, causing him to blink multiple times. At that point it felt like his mind was disconnecting itself from his body. Everything seemed so distant and blurry, as though it wasn't real.

"Zachary!"

Someone was in the room with him and they were saying something. It took a moment for him to realize that whoever it was, they were saying his name. With extreme effort, Zack clawed his way back up to the surface and looked up into the face of a kind looking older man. He appeared to be in his late forties, though he was in great shape and only had a touch of grey in his otherwise short brown hair. Zack felt like he should know this man, he had a sort of grandfatherly quality to him.

"Casius?" Zack mumbled softly. Yes, that was it, this man was Casius! Then he became confused. How had he known this stranger's name?

"White Knight, do not be reborn. It's too late for that now. You need to stay with the Truth Seeker and watch over him for now." Casius said seeming to look through Zack, then the older man's gaze refocused and he looked directly at him. The stranger pulled Zack into his strong arms and away from the wall that he'd fallen against in a sitting position and held him gently as a father would to his child after they had had a nightmare.

"Rest now Zachary," Casius said gently and Zack felt warmth and energy flow into his body, easing the pain and lulling him to sleep. Zack fought against the drowsiness and tried to speak, his level of panic rising as he found it almost impossible to move his numb lips.

"Cody… Protect… " It was all Zack could manage to say and he ceased his attempts at speaking, looking into the man's eyes hoping that he understood.

"Your brother will survive this darkness Zachary and when you wake up, I will have need of your strength. Rest now Child and be at peace," Casius said in a comforting voice. As sluggish as his mind was working, Zack thought that his man wasn't making any sense. How could he possibly know that Cody would be alright? 'When he woke up?' Zack knew he was dying, he didn't need to be lied to. There was nothing in store for him except for the afterlife.

It became harder and harder to resist the drowsiness and Zack soon found himself sliding into unconsciousness. Seconds later he stopped breathing and his body lie still in Casius's gentle embrace. Casius stood up the moment Zack died, picking the teenager up with his strong arms as if he weighed no more than a small child.

"We don't have much time Zachary. It is only a matter of minutes now," Casius said before both of them disappeared in a brilliant flare of blue light.

* * *

**_September 1st_**

The beat of pop music filled the indoor concert, thousands of fans moving in time to the catchy tune as they waited for singer Trey Hannah to begin singing the opening lyrics to his number one song. Dante Clark didn't mind Trey's music, but he wouldn't have been here at all if not for the fact that his girlfriend was infatuated with the celebrity. He grinned in amusement upon seeing how captivated Kate was by Trey who was standing in the center of the stage, head bowed and eyes closed with a microphone held between both hands at chest level.

"There you were, right before my eyes…" Trey began, matching the rhythm of the background music. The young singer's soft unbroken voice had a slight English accent and it drove the girls wild. He opened his electric blue eyes and stared out across the masses of fans, seeming to focus on every individual person at once as though he could convey his positive emotions beyond just words.

Distantly Dante became aware of a disturbance that was tugging at the edge of his consciousness. His sixth sense, deeply attuned to feeling the opposing cosmic energy forces of light and darkness, was tingling with increasing intensity. He looked around the room, all feeling of enjoyment at being at the concert gone, wondering if the source of his discomfort was nearby.

Then with startling suddenness, the strange feeling he had intensified tenfold and made him stumble off balance. Something was wrong in the world and while the source of it wasn't at the concert it was very close by, possibly within the city of Boston itself.

"I heard…" Trey paused briefly at the exact same moment Dante stumbled, then quickly recovered and continued singing, "I heard, but I did not understand."

Dante looked up at the celebrity and their eyes met briefly. There would be no partying for them after the concert was over. Something in the world was amiss. Something had set it off kilter. There was work to be done tonight.

* * *

Flashes of blue light erupted in the middle of the northbound lane of Interstate 95 on the outskirts of Boston, Massachusetts. Cars caught in the path of the sudden appearance of light swerved around it, narrowly avoiding running off the road. Then something appeared in the center of the light…

Cody Martin wasn't prepared to materialize in the real world again and he took several thousand mile steps forward before falling flat on his face in the grass on the shoulder of the road. As the blue light faded away, Cody felt his senses return to him. He was aware of the springy grass pressed again his cheek and the scent of dirt filling his nostrils. He wondered where he was and what was going on.

"Oh my god…" Cody distantly heard someone say, but he was too tired to summon the strength to look around for the source of the voice. Then he became aware of someone kneeling down next to him, gasping in surprise before gently shaking his shoulder, "Come on kid, wake up." Cody opened his eyes and turned his head slightly to look at the silhouette of the man kneeling next to him.

"Are you ok kid?"

"Yeah…" Cody croaked weakly, surprised at how sore his throat was. He summoned up all of his strength and managed to sit up, fighting the pain that exploded in his head caused by the sudden movement. The man had his cell phone out, presumably to call for help, but Cody put his hand on top of the stranger's and stopped the movement.

"What's your name son?"

"Cody…"

"Well Cody, how are you feeling?" He considered the question for a long moment as he looked around, taking in his surroundings, seeing cars pass on the opposite side of the highway and the lights of a small town, offering the usual combination of roadside amenities, shining brightly in the distance.

"I feel like a new man," Cody said, a small smile creeping across his lips. Then he started crying in relief. All the sacrifices he and his companions had made, all the innocent lives lost and all the damage done to the world had not been in vain. The time machine had worked and it had given him the chance to make sure that the world did not meet a violent end as it had in his original timeline.

_I have stood on the edge of the abyss,_

_ I have seen the end of days,_

_ And I wondered, 'how did it come to this?'  
_

_

* * *

_

**A/N:** It's been awhile everyone, but I'm back along with the cast of the Chaos A/U. This rewrite has been overdue, but at last it is here. **_The Chaos Demons_** is a continuation of the events set in motion in _**Truth Seeker**_ and I think you'll find it highly entertaining and the new plots very refreshing.

Thank you for reading and hold onto your hats for **Chapter One: Reborn From The Ashes** is not far off!


	3. Reborn From The Ashes

**Chapter One**

**"Reborn From The Ashes"**

Eighteen year old Cody Martin groaned in relief as the hot water splashed against his bare skin carrying with it all the dirt and blood from his last fight away down the drain. He wasn't really sure if it was his blood or that of his enemies. Cody's memories of his final hours in Boston were hazy at best and he had the sneaking suspicion that he was missing a big chunk of time somewhere in the chain of events that had led him here.

As his lightly tanned flesh was uncovered, so were the various injuries scattered across his body. Three scars ran along the top of his right shoulder where a Wraith had nearly taken his arm off during a fight in Philadelphia, a barely healed gash ran along the top of his left thigh courtesy of the battle with Pandora in Boston and worst of all was the thin, yet frightening, scar directly in the center of his chest from the fatal wound that should have killed him instantly, but somehow he'd survived that one too. Scattered around the major injuries were numerous cuts and scrapes from flying debris hitting him while he'd dodged the fighting between Ashani and Jarran. Unseen were a few sore spots where Chiam had brutally kicked him when he was down that had never fully healed.

Cody put his head under the hot spray and ran his hands through his short blond hair, getting the worst of the dirt out of it. He'd cut it short with Lily's help so it wouldn't interfere with his vision while in combat. He was reminded of a much younger version of himself moving into the Tipton for the first time. Ah those were the days when everything was so simple, everyone was alive, everyone was happy and Cody was still blissfully innocent in his childhood youth. Two years ago however, that had all been ripped away.

What started out as a normal lazy Sunday morning for his family soon found Carey and Zachary Martin dead, victims of a supernatural assassin sent to kill the twins, and left Cody to seek out the protection of his father. That had lasted all of two days and then the invasion of Earth had begun… Kurt Martin died as they tried to get out of Boston before it was overrun and then Cody was all alone. All alone in a world that no longer belonged to the human race with endless Demons and their masters all trying to kill him.

Later Cody would find out that he and Zack had been targeted because, as audacious as it sounded, they were two of the protectors of the Earth. They both had immortal souls that could tap into the cosmic power of light, enhancing their physical abilities and damage resistance while also providing them physical and metaphysical weapons to use against the forces of darkness. Cody would come to learn that he was a Child of the Light, referring to his soul, and a Champion of the Earth Realm. The only Champion that had survived in fact…

Zack had been assassinated before the twins even knew anything about who they really were, though just before dying he'd unlocked his powers to give the Demons one hell of a fight before succumbing to them. Escaping the hotel, though wishing he had died with his family, Cody soon unlocked his own power as he came across a scared girl, Lily, and defended her from an Orc earning him a permanent companion on his two year journey. Later as he and Lily escaped they had run into Taschen, an extremely powerful Child of Light, trying to defeat Ashani, Demon Lord of the Chaos Realm who led the invasion, only to watch him fail and die in their arms. Of the other Children, Cody had never seen or heard of them and he suspected that they too had died early.

Realizing he was starting to prune up from standing in the shower for so long, Cody quickly utilized the very uncomfortable complimentary white washcloth and some free soap and shampoo to finish cleaning himself. He couldn't quite place the scent of the cleansers and he eventually decided that it was best to leave such curiosities alone.

"Probably made by the lowest bidder," Cody muttered cynically, shutting off the water and grabbing an equally uncomfortable white towel to dry himself off. He changed into the clean clothes that Daniel Winters had been kind enough to buy for him at the travel center across the street earlier in the evening. The man had been extremely dismayed at finding a bruised and bloodied Cody lying on the side of the highway and it had taken an extreme amount of convincing for him to just leave Cody well enough alone and not make a big deal out of the situation. He grinned devilishly remembering the shock clearly written on the man's face as Cody tapped into the light and projected his golden aura to make his point.

He shrugged off the recent memory and stared at himself in the mirror for several minutes. Gone was the short scrawny boy he'd once been, replaced by a tall muscular young man in good shape; he'd grown at least a foot since the day the world ended. Cody had become stronger, his endurance had gone up and was in the best shape of his life. There was also something different about his face… It was his eyes; eyes that had seen too much, shedding their innocent sparkle for a dull sheen…

Cody had seen every member of his immediate family die horrible deaths, had watched a good friend be killed senselessly by the assassin Chiam, lost a good friend who had become his lover throughout his long journey barely twelve hours ago and seen the absolute worst things that the Demons did to humans; and in some cases what people did to other people. His innocence was dead and gone, never to return. At least he had a second chance now…

A second chance to do it all over again. Thanks to a crazy old inventor by the name of Arwin, Cody had stepped across time and arrived two years into the past, just one week before everything went to hell. He had time now; time to prepare, time to think and time to come up with a plan to save everyone.

Cody finally left the motel's cramped bathroom, hesitating with his hand on the light switch before deciding to leave it on, and flopped down on the single bed. He slept better with the lights on. There were a lot of things to do right now, but he knew that they would have to wait until morning. He was just too damn tired to think straight right now. Also, the final hours of fighting in the future Boston had left him drained and he was barely stronger than a newborn kitten right now which didn't do anyone any good.

Flipping on the television to the local news channel Cody relaxed back onto the two pillows and made himself comfortable, feeling his eyelids growing heavier by the second. He took notice of the date on the news, September 1st, 2008. Tomorrow would be the second, which meant he only had five days until Zack and Mom were killed by orcs and seven days until massive hordes of demons descended upon all of mankind. He felt like he should be out there right now, working to prevent the coming disaster and felt guilty for just lying around. However, he also was very much aware of just how spent he was, his powers were weak and his body and mind were exhausted. He needed a little rest or else he would be no good to anyone.

Cody's head turned to one side, gently settling into the pillows as he fell asleep. The TV remote slipped from his hand, clattered noisily onto the floor and his dark dreams began…

* * *

_Reaching his destination in record time, Cody pushed against the vent cover with all his strength and it popped off surprisingly easy. He pulled himself out quickly, slid down the wall and flipped over as his feet left the duct. Cody landed catlike, flexing his knees to absorb the impact and putting his hands on the ground to steady the landing. The hallway was empty except for a few debris from the busted doorway to Suite 2330 a few rooms down. _

_ Cody rapidly moved into the stairwell and ran down four flights before exiting onto the nineteenth floor and racing over to the elevator. An older man in a black business suit was just getting off, a cup of coffee held in one hand and a briefcase in the other. He must have just come up from the lobby…it must still be safe down there Cody realized as he jumped into the elevator. The man barely had time to give Cody an inquiring look before he jammed the button for the lobby repeatedly and the doors closed._

_ He fell against the doors of the elevator as it started moving downward, breathing heavily from the exertion of the last few minutes and feeling the sweat pour down his face mingling with tears and snot. Cody's mind was still on escape mode and he found it difficult to think about his slain family, the monsters that had invaded his suite or the man's voice which had spoken to said monsters coming from a location just outside of Cody's line of sight. All he knew now was that he had to get away. His body and mind together demanded that he survive this encounter._

_ The elevator reached the lobby and opened its doors spilling a desperate Cody out onto the carpet startling several guests and hotel employees. He sprang to his feet and made a run for the front doors. The Tipton's general manager Marion Moseby stepped in his path and grabbed Cody's shoulders. His eyes were alight with bewilderment and concern for the young man. He tried to hide it, but he truly cared about the boys._

_ "Cody what on Earth…?" Moseby started to ask before he cut the man off._

_ "Z.. and ma..mom…Th…they're..da…dead…" Cody sobbed through a fit of hiccups, his body shaking violently from fear and his crying. Moseby stared at him, not comprehending how something bad like that could possibly happen in his hotel. It just couldn't happen! _

_ Whatever Moseby did next, Cody wasn't sure if he was trying to comfort him or guide him over to the nearby couch, was met with fierce resistance. Cody's mind believed that Moseby was trying to restrain him and he fought free of the older man's grip. The sound of an inhuman roar could suddenly be heard in the distance. He didn't exactly speak monster, but the meaning was clear. They knew where he was…_

_ "They're coming…" Cody whispered in fear, looking over his shoulder at the stairwell where he'd heard the sound come from. He pushed past a startled Moseby, blew past Norman at the revolving door and hit the street outside of the Tipton running at full speed. He didn't dare look back…_

* * *

**_September 2nd_**

Cody Martin awoke with a start, covered in a cold sweat. The TV was still on and there was some reporter talking about the upcoming presidential election. He looked frantically around the room, expecting to see a Demon ready to pounce upon him. It was tough, but Cody reminded himself that he was safe here. There were no demons. Not yet anyway.

He got out of bed and shut the television off. Despite the horrible memory he'd dreamed about, he felt like a million bucks. Glancing at the clock Cody noted he'd slept for almost sixteen hours, it was a few minutes past noon now which was as good a time as any to get moving. Today he was going to the Tipton to change his destiny, and the destinies of his brother and parents for Kurt too had died shortly after the end began.

Within a few minutes Cody had checked out of the motel and called a cab to take him into Boston. While he waited, he sat on the curb just outside motel just watching the normal every life going on around him, people filling up at the gas station across the street or pulling up to the drive through window at the fast food place next to it for lunch. He still felt detached from it, like it wasn't real to him.

Cody shrugged off the thought. He knew what he was here to do and nothing else mattered to him at this point. He had lived through two years of hell watching all of mankind being destroyed around him and now he had stepped back in time to prevent it all from ever happening. From the ashes of the future he had been reborn…

* * *

**A/N:** Nothing new here, this chapter is an edited version of the original with updated information because of TS. The dream sequence however, was taken directly from _**Truth Seeker**_. I had to include this one for continuity, but fear not Chapter Two will start us off with some new content.


	4. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Demons

**Chapter Two**

**_"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Demons"_**

"He's coming around!" a young woman's voice said, conveying a wealth of relief.

"Zachary! Zachary can you hear me?" a different voice asked, but one that seemed familiar.

Zack opened his eyes and immediately shut them as the light above him nearly blinded him. His head swam and he became aware of a dull pain radiating from his chest all throughout his body. It hurt to breathe and he bet it would hurt to move as well. _'Man…is this the afterlife? This sucks…' _He thought dully before remembering with a pang of sadness that he was dead. The last thing he remembered was lying propped up against the wall of his bedroom rapidly bleeding out worrying about Cody's fate.

"Open your eyes Child," the woman's voice spoke again. She didn't sound that much older than Zack and he decided to humor her and see if she was as beautiful as her voice. It was much darker than it had been when Zack had first opened his eyes, but there was still a soft golden glow illuminating the room that he was in. He tilted his head in the direction of the light and was stunned to see that the woman was the source of the glow. She must have seen his eyes widen in shock because she was quick to try and ease his growing apprehension.

"It's alright Zachary, I'm Elissa, I'm a Child of Light and I've healed your wounds."

"I…I'm not dead?" Zack croaked weakly, his throat felt like he'd just swallowed burning hot food.

"You did die son, but Elissa managed to heal and revive your body before it was too late," the familiar voice explained. Zack turned his head to look at the old man standing on his other side. It was Casius, the man who had held him as the life left his body.

"How do I know your name Casius?" Zack wondered aloud.

"You'll soon find that you know a great many things that you never even realized that you knew," Casius said mystically.

"Ok…that's not really an answer…"

"Few people have managed to get a straight answer out of him," Elissa laughed, her soft hand coming to rest on top of his bare chest right over the source of the pain radiating through his body. It dulled and he soon found himself growing more relaxed.

"What is going on?"

"You need to rest now," Elissa said.

"But, what is…" Zack started to ask before Casius interrupted him.

"Just before you died, I told you that when you woke up again, I would have need of your strength did I not?"

"Yes…what…?"

"Your brother Cody is in danger, the whole world is in danger Zachary and I promise you that I will prepare you for the coming battle as best I can so that you can protect everyone you care about. First though, you must rest and allow your body to recover its strength. Do you understand me?"

"What danger? You mean those monsters?" Zack asked, remembering the hideous creatures that had smashed their way inside his home and killed his mother.

"Do you understand me Zachary?" Casius rounded on him sharply.

"I guess…"

"Then rest now. Your training begins tomorrow."

* * *

At that exact moment however Cody was far from any personal danger.

"So what'll it be kid?" Cody snapped out of his momentary daze to look up at the taxi cab that had just pulled up in front of him. The driver leaned his head out the window, he was overweight, decently tanned, had a mop of short curly black hair on his larger head and a bad five o'clock shadow.

"Well?" A flicker of impatience passed over the driver's dark beady eyes.

"Uh…the Tipton, please," Cody answered as he stood up and jumped in the back of the cab. The driver was still looking at the curb, apparently confused about something. Cody frowned, looking at the man in his rearview mirror.

"No luggage?"

"Um…just meeting someone there…" he answered, feeling relieved. The last thing he needed at this moment was complications, however big or small. Shrugging, the cab driver put the car into gear and sped off out of the parking lot, onto the main road and headed out towards the highway for a quick hop down towards downtown Boston.

Cody sat back in the seat and forced himself to relax. He was anxious to see his family again, alive and whole once more. At the same time though he was nervous…how was he going to approach them? How could he make them believe his story? How could he tell them that they were supposed to die in a few days? He sighed heavily and glanced out the window as the cab sped down an off ramp into the outskirts of downtown Boston.

"Picked a good time my friend, traffic doesn't look half bad," the driver said lightly from the front. Cody mumbled a reply and continued staring out the window, watching the people and buildings race past. He couldn't help remembering the day he'd been running out of Boston on this very street, himself and several hundred other people being chased by the Demons on the ground while a dragon flew overhead causing mass chaos and gridlock as it blasted everything in sight.

His father, Kurt Martin, had been there running with him as well. They'd gotten separated by the stampeding crowd, Kurt being forced almost a block away before he was able to start making his way back to where Cody was standing on the hood of a crashed car looking for him. It was all over so quick… One minute Kurt had been struggling to make his way back to his son and then he was simply gone, a pillar of fire reaching towards the sky in his place. It was the murderous dragon. It had struck a gas line just under the street with its dumb luck and blew up the intersection where Kurt had been and almost half a city block in every direction. Cody had been knocked down into the pavement by the force of the blast, the heat from the fire singing his hair.

Cody squeezed his eyes shut trying to make the horrible images go away, but there was nothing he could do to block out the screams of hundreds of people being burned to death. Then there were thousands of others screaming in surprise, panic and some, like Cody, in anguish. He rubbed his temples, trying to sooth the pain he felt in his head. He just wanted the pain to go away!

"Having one of those days huh?" The memories faded away in an instant as Cody opened his eyes and looked up at the rearview mirror to find the driver looking at him with a concerned expression on his face. "That's about how I feel every Monday…though that could just be the hangover from Sunday." The man chuckled softly and then announced that they were almost there.

The Tipton hotel, completely intact and as magnificent as ever, seemed to slide into place alongside the cab. Cody paid the driver, thanked him and got out of the already open cab door. A Tipton attendant stood there, holding the cab door open for him as Cody extracted himself from the taxi. The attendant looked around for Cody's luggage until Cody told him he didn't bring any. Man, everyone expected him to have luggage…well it was his own fault after all! He couldn't remember anyone checking in to the hotel without any.

Despite his nervous anxiety, Cody took the handful of steps up to the lobby doors at a jog. It was hard not to be excited!

* * *

Dante Clark spun around as his senses lit up, warning him of Demons very close to him. He'd spun around because they always came up behind you, always… His left hand extended straight out in front of his body and a tear in the fabric of reality opened in the palm of his hand. Brilliant white light spilled outward from the opening and Dante concentrated to focus the light into a beam of coherent energy that raced down the length of the sewer tunnel he was standing in and slammed into a lesser Demon.

Without pausing to admire the results of his quick reflexes, he summoned his sword into the palm of his right hand and whipped it around in a circle. The tip sparked as it bit into the concrete wall and then clanged loudly as it smacked away the knife meant to stab him in the back. He'd known to turn around a second time because the first attack was always a diversion for the real threat. Now, with his sixth sense calmed and picking up on no other threats he knew that he was safe for the time being.

"Tell me what you're doing here filth!" Dante demanded, pressing the tip of his blade against the neck of the man who had tried to kill him when his back was turned.

"It's already too late for you," he replied and then devolved into a fit of laughter.

"Too late for what?" Dante asked, pressing his blade closer and drawing blood.

"The Children of Light are all going to die!"

* * *

**A/N:** A bit short I know, but pretty thought provoking nonetheless. Cody's part is a straight copy and paste, and it should be the last one as I completely changed the plot from the moment he arrives on the 23rd floor in the next chapter. Dante gets another small part, just showing off his abilities and receiving a warning.

Now then, of course Zack's is the most important piece! We know that Zack shows up to fight Ashani thanks to Taschen's help in the end of the original Chaos Demons, but we never knew how that came about. Things have changed in this rewrite, and it is Casius's handiwork this time around, but Zack's restoration to life will finally be explained =)

But I suppose you're wondering where and when Zack is as well as how he was so powerful huh? Find out in the next Chapter!


	5. Trials and Tribulations

**Chapter Three**

**_"Trials and Tribulations"_**

"Hey Norman. Good to see you again!"

"You too sir. Welcome back to the Tipton." The middle aged doorman answered. Norman had been doing his job so long now that he no longer cared how people knew his name or if he'd ever seen them before. He just treated everyone like he'd met them dozens of times before and the guests liked that, which was all that mattered really.

The lobby was exactly as Cody had remembered it in the dream where he'd fled from it, except this time it was devoid of a boy on the verge of emotional collapse fleeing from a small army of monsters. There was Irene the concierge, talking to a guest on the telephone recommending a movie theater that had a good restaurant within walking distance for a late dinner. Against the far wall near the elevators was Maddie Fitzpatrick at the candy counter, absorbed in one of the newest fashion magazines. On the left was Mr. Moseby himself, the Tipton's strict manager, looking over at Maddie.

"I pay you to sell those, not read them Madeline," Moseby quipped.

"An informed employee is a good employee Mr. Moseby." Maddie replied, turning the page. Moseby made his customary growl and she put the magazine up on the rack behind her then turned around with a bored look on her face. That is, until she saw Cody standing by the doors drinking in the scene, a small smile playing across his lips. She smiled back and gave him a wink. Cody turned away from her, slightly embarrassed. Maddie had the worst luck when it came to guys, and yet she'd always rejected the perfect person for her. Zachary Martin. Cody's brother had developed a crush on her at first sight and was always trying to get her to go out with him.

"Right this way sir!" Mr. Moseby motioned him to the check-in counter where he stood. Cody walked over completely at a loss for words. What was he going to say? Moseby looked at him for a second, almost as if he could recognize the one time prankster he'd had to chase around his hotel on more than one occasion.

"Do you have a reservation sir?" Moseby asked, resting his fingers on the keys of his laptop to look it up.

"Um, actually…" Cody began as the elevator dinged softly in the background and before he could continue a terrific crashing noise followed by what sounded like an avalanche came from behind him.

Together, Moseby and Cody looked around to see what had happened. A pile of luggage was lying haphazardly on the floor. The luggage groaned. Rather, Esteban the bellhop who was buried underneath the luggage groaned.

"I'm ok!" He called out in a dazed, heavily accented, voice, "Zee carpet broke my fall." Someone scrambled out from under the mess beside Esteban.

"ZACK!" Moseby hollered at the boy who was getting to his feet, decked out in a helmet, safety pads and roller skates. Time seemed to slow down as Cody stood rooted where he was staring at his brother. He felt his heart ache seeing Zack alive again and up to mischief as always. An involuntary twitch of movement passed through him, a desire to run up and hug Zack, before Cody halted the movement. Zack's reaction to some strange guy running up and hugging him would do Cody little good.

"Sup dude!" Zack said to Cody as he glided past on his skates headed for the door with Mr. Moseby in pursuit threatening him with all manner of punishments, including having a talk with Carey Martin. Cody watched Zack leave. Seeing his brother had been shocking enough, hearing his voice was almost too much.

Cody moved over to the elevator, which happened to still on the lobby floor and punched the button for the twenty third floor. His heart ached for his family, but Cody knew that the first thing he needed to do was to establish contact with them and explain the situation. Mom and his younger self should be up in the suite right now. Before he knew it, he was standing outside of the suite where he'd lived for over four years. The place where this mess all started.

He stood there in front of the door, well aware of the fact that he had broken out into a cold sweat, with his hand poised to knock. Cody knew that he should tell his family everything and warn them of what was to come, but something was holding him back. How could he be the one to shatter his family's world? How could he even consider asking the twins of this timeline to shed their innocence and fight for their lives? Who was he to ask them to put their lives on the line? Wasn't that what he was here for; to protect them and keep them safe from the coming darkness?

"Oh! Hello," Carey Martin said, catching Cody by surprise as she opened the door to her suite right in front of him, "Can I help you?"

"Sorry, wrong room," Cody muttered, stepping away from the door and allowing his mother to step out into the hallway and close the door behind her. He saw a brief flash of blonde hair belonging to his younger self sitting at the dining room table before the door shut.

"Oh, no problem. Have a good afternoon then," She bade farewell and left Cody standing in the hallway dumbstruck. If he had had any doubts before about the reality of his situation, they were gone now. In the space of ten minutes he had seen his twin brother who had fallen to the Demons in his original timeline alive and well and then his mother had spoken to him and Cody had even seen himself as he had been two years ago.

"God help me…" Cody said softly, his chest constricted with emotion as he let his let his head come to rest on the wall. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, he was nearly bursting with joy and worry at the same time.

"I don't know about God, but perhaps I could help?" Cody looked up and to his right as a fit older man with brown hair approached him. He was absurdly dressed in a Hawaiian t-shirt, a pair of khakis and flip flops and for a moment Cody thought he was hallucinating. This man was dressed for an afternoon at the beach, not walking around the streets of downtown Boston at the onset of Fall.

"Who are you?"

"I am called a great many things, but you may call me Casius," the man said warmly, extending his hand in greeting.

"How could you help me? You don't even know who I am," Cody said matter of factly, nevertheless extending his hand as well. He felt a static shock as he gripped the firm hand of Casius and shook.

"Oh I know exactly who you are, Cody Martin the Truth Seeker." Cody's blood ran cold and Casius's grip was solid, he couldn't break free. Energy rushed into his body through the man's hand and Cody couldn't push back against the sudden surge of power as it rapidly consumed him.

The hallway seemed to tilt sideways, spin and then fall away. Cody had the strangest sensation that he was being chopped into little pieces and he screamed in fear as the world around him was washed out in a blinding explosion of light.

* * *

"Wake up you!"

Zack groaned, rolled over to put his back to the disturbance and went back to sleep. He didn't know it just yet, but that was a mistake. He was awoken again, he wasn't sure how much later it was, but this time it was to the tune of a blood curling roar. In a fraction of a second Zack shot out of bed and was on his feet, looking around his dim surroundings for the source of the noise, trying to ignore the hammering of his heart. The short hairs on his arms stood on end and he felt fear creep into his consciousness.

He was standing in what appeared to be a tunnel with an arched roof, the walls around him made by large stone blocks smoothed by the forces of nature over a long period of time. Distantly, at either end of the section of tunnel that he was standing in he spotted torches burning dimly, barely giving off enough light for him to even see anything at all. Zack quickly examined himself, seeing that he was dressed in nothing more than a pair of boxers and a loose fitting shirt.

"What the hell was that?" Zack wondered aloud, glancing back and forth from one end of the tunnel to the other as if whatever it was would be on him any moment.

"It's a Troll." Zack froze upon hearing the unexpected answer to his question. The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once. He recognized it as belonging to the same person who had tried waking him up earlier.

"Who are you?" He asked experimentally, hoping to get some more intelligible answers this time. Trolls weren't real, they only existed in fantasy. Then Zack remembered seeing the monsters that had smashed their way into his home and realized that maybe there could be some truth in the answer.

"I am Kasen, your…uh…guide. Yeah, that's it." Zack frowned, his guide didn't seem very sure of himself.

"Where am I? What's going on? How do I get out of here?"

"That's a lot of questions Zachary!" Kasen taunted him.

"Answer them or just shut up!" Zack said, growing agitated by the second as he cautiously walked towards one of the torches on his bare feet.

"Alright, alright, calm down."

"You want me to be calm? Why don't you bring your happy ass down here and I'll show you calm!" Zack shouted angrily, then just as quickly he dropped into a low defensive crouch as the 'Troll' roared again. He was closer now, the sound was much louder this time and it almost seemed angrier.

"It wouldn't be fair if I came into the Lair of the Beast Zachary. I'd be out of there in a matter of seconds," Kasen boasted smugly. Zack grinned despite his situation, it sounded like his guide was throwing down the gauntlet and Zack was never one to back down from a challenge.

"So how do I get out of here?"

"Simple."

"Why do I feel like your definition of simple is different from mine?" Zack asked warily, looking around the corner into a black void where he heard movement. Somehow he just knew that the Troll was waiting for him not too far ahead. He wondered why it hadn't already come after him.

"You have to kill the Troll to escape. See? Simple," Kasen explained. Zack picked up the torch and threw it down the hallway into the black void. He had the briefest glimpse of a larger chamber illuminated about ten feet ahead of him and an impossibly tall creature silhouetted by the weak glow before the thing shifted sideways and stomped on the torch, extinguishing its light.

"Yeah…simple except that I can't see the damn thing," Zack complained to cover his growing sense of panic. There was no way he could kill that thing. It would crush him without even trying.

"Maybe if you would use your power to try and solve your problems instead of your mouth you might figure it out."

"My power?" Zack wondered, not sure what his guide meant, "What power?" He was met by silence this time.

"Kasen! What power?" Zack demanded to no avail. The Troll roared at him again and this time he could feel the air moved by its' howl and smell the rancid breath of the creature. He nearly vomited right there, but Zack managed to force his stomach back into line.

"What power?" He whispered in desperation, wanting nothing more than to get out of this place and make sure Cody was safe. Wait a minute…

_Zack looked at his frightened brother through the vent cover, knowing that he could do nothing more to protect him now except by giving his life to buy Cody time to get away. There was no other way…it had to be like this. _

_"Remember me…" Zack bade farewell to his twin as he glanced to his side where one of the monsters he had downed was recovering and rushing towards him. Something snapped inside of him in that moment and power rushed into his body, filling him from head to toe with an intoxicating energy. Zack caught the creature and crashed to the floor, wrestling with it surprised at how he was able to push its arms back. He couldn't get enough space or leverage to punch it while lying on his back so he tried kicking the other monsters in the room to distract the one on top of him. It worked and Zack broke free of the monsters grip, rolling away from it. He'd succeeded in drawing all the attention onto himself._

_Before he could get to his feet something extremely hard slammed into his chest, knocking him backwards into the wall by the door. Zack was partially sitting up against the wall, struggling to pull air into his lungs as his breath had been knocked out of him. His hands started to glow and then in a flash of light he suddenly found himself holding a sword that glowed in such a way that it seemed to pull the light in the room into it, rather than radiating its brilliance, leaving everything else looking dull and dark. He glared at the Demons looking down upon him in stunned silence, knowing that he could destroy them easily with this weapon._

With Cody's life in danger and the monsters all around him, Zack remembered that he had felt unstoppable for a brief moment, charged with newfound energy and strength. Then, even after he was slammed against the wall, he'd somehow found himself in possession of a sword that glowed with a brilliant white light. If Zack could get that power and that sword, he knew that he'd have a better chance of getting past the Troll. But how, how had it come to him the first time?

"Doubting yourself Zachary?"

"My name is Zack! And no, I'm trying to figure out how to get my power!"

"It's simple, Zachary," Kasen said, ignoring his preferred name seemingly to get under his skin, "There are three possible outcomes."

"I'm listening…"

"One, you summon your power, kill the Troll and get out of here. Two, you don't summon your power, fight the Troll and lose in which case you're quite dead and the Troll's fellow Demons will kill your brother.

"How do you know about Cody?" Zack asked, interrupting Kasen's list.

"Or three, you do nothing and because of your inaction, you effectively kill Cody just as well as the Demons by not being there for him."

"Then let me out of here so I can protect him!" Zack demanded angrily. He was growing tired of this game.

"How will you protect your brother from the Children of Darkness, let alone the much weaker Demons, if you yourself cannot even kill a lesser demon like a Troll? Cody is already much stronger than you, but you and your brother are two sides of the same coin and if one of you is weak, you will both die." There was a pause as Zack mentally soaked up Kasen's rant and he began to see the logic behind some of it, especially the part about them both dying if Zack wasn't up to par.

"Cody is stronger than me? How?"

"He would have been out of this place long ago and have killed several more Demons by now…" Zack didn't see how that was possible, but he didn't feel like arguing any more.

"How do I use my power? And don't say that it's simple!"

"Simple, you just have to find the motivation that allows you wield it."

"Like the 'I'm gonna smash your face in after I get out of here' kind of motivation?" Zack wondered.

"Not really," Kasen paused, then when he continued his voice was low and dead serious with no trace of humor to be found, "More like, 'If I'm weak, Cody will die because of me' motivation." Zack felt his humor evaporate and he breathed in deeply to calm his nerves.

Kasen was right; he had to do this

Not just for himself, but for Cody as well.

Power surged into his body, it was unlike anything Zack had ever experienced before! He felt his muscles tighten and then relax slightly at the same time he felt himself grow lighter than air. His senses all went into overdrive and time seemed to slow down. It was as if he'd been limping along on battery power his entire life and now for the first time he was plugged in to an electrical outlet and able to draw in as much power as he wanted.

There was danger in this though as he quickly found out, the power rushed to fill him and after it did, the power just kept on entering his body and with nowhere to go it began to cause him physical pain as his body struggled to adapt to this alien condition. Zack clamped down on what he thought was the source of the power and was relieved to feel it slow to a trickle, but he still had to do something with the abundance of energy threatening to overwhelm his limited control. Why not let go of that extra energy?

Just as he thought about it, the abundant energy manifested around him as a sphere of rapidly expanding white light that raced down the tunnel into the Troll's chamber. The Demon roared in agony as it was touched by pure light and backed away from the opening, giving Zack room to enter the chamber safely. Zack jerked his right hand open in surprise as something forced its' way into the palm of his hand and he glanced down to see that the sword he had briefly held just before dying was back. The whole length of the blade was covered in glowing runes that appeared to be floating on the surface of the metallic silver surface and the edge of the sword was glowing as if it were white hot. Inscribed on the hilt was a single word, '_Fortitude_'.

Something deep inside of him snapped and Zack felt like he was a completely different person, like there was another side of him that until now had lain dormant. He was no longer the scared sixteen year old boy who doubted his ability to take on the Troll anymore. Filling the void where his fear and uncertainty had been was a strange sense of confidence, almost borderline cockiness, and a determination to do what needed to be done. He felt a rush of adrenaline pass through him, the same feeling he got when he rode on the fastest and most dangerous roller coasters and Zack found himself take an involuntary step forward as he started to glow just like the woman who had healed him had.

"I don't know what this is…but I like it," Zack said in amazement and then he took a deep breath, sizing up the Troll who by now had recovered, but was unwilling to approach the young man before it who was lit up brighter than Times Square on New Year's Eve. The Troll roared defiantly at him and Zack screamed back at it as he charged forward.

The Troll swiped at him with a large wooden club and though Zack only saw it at the last second, he was able to drop to the ground and slide underneath it as if he were playing baseball and then shifted his momentum to come rolling forward to his feet. With Zack inside its' defenses, the Troll turned and stepped away from him, trying to get some space to swing again, but the young man was moving far too fast for it. Zack circled around behind the Demon and slashed the back of its left knee with Fortitude, satisfied that his attack had caused extreme pain as the Troll fell onto its wounded knee and then without hesitation he sliced into the other knee on the return swing causing it to drop to both knees.

Zack came to a stop in front of the fallen Troll as he completed his circle around it and glared at the Demon in the eyes, seeing the creature's hatred of him as plain as day. This thing wanted to kill him and it would have killed Cody or any other innocent person given the chance. It did not deserve mercy…

He closed his eyes as the Troll's blood sprayed into the air and several droplets landed on his face. The huge creature's body reached up in disbelief trying to find a head that was no longer attached to its body before slowly falling over backwards and lying still. Zack circled around the fallen Demon once, contemplating his actions. It was the first time he'd ever killed something. He wasn't sure if he should feel bad about the act of killing, given what this creature represented and what it would have done to him if he had been weak.

"It's over," Zack said to the empty chamber, letting go of his newfound power source and watching the magnificent sword Fortitude burst into a shower of white sparks that quickly extinguished themselves. Darkness reclaimed the chamber and Zack stood there silently, thinking about everything that had just happened to him.

* * *

Having fought through several more Demons in the massive underground sewer system before going above ground, Dante believed that he had finally found the gap in the Earth's defenses that was letting these creatures into his Realm. He knelt down inside an old abandoned warehouse in one of Boston's low income areas and examined the ground. There were no visible signs of a break in the world's defenses that kept the dark realms from entering Earth, but when he used his sixth sense he could definitely feel that this was the place where all of the Demons were entering the world.

Dante tapped into his power and directed a beam of white light into the gap and was rewarded when he saw a dazzling array of colors light up all around him. He pushed more of his power into the gap, stretching the trailing edges of the Earth's defenses so that they overlapped and used the beam of light so seal it shut. It was like he was a doctor stitching a gushing wound shut. It was messy, it wasn't the proper treatment and it wouldn't hold for long, but it was the best he could do right now.

As he stood and made ready to leave, Dante fished his cell phone out of his jacket pocket and hit the speed dial. He waited impatiently as it rung several times before it was finally picked up.

"What's up?"

"I was right, there was a gap in our defenses."

"How bad?"

"Real bad, but I've sealed it temporarily…" Dante trailed off as he heard a strange sound. Then there was another noise, almost like someone was walking and trying not to be heard. He wasn't alone.

"Dante?"

"Now why did you go and do that?" a voice spoke from the shadows. Then Dante felt a sour aftertaste fill his mouth and dread creep into his bones. His sixth sense screamed at him unnecessarily. There was a Child of Darkness on Earth.

* * *

**A/N:** Hmmm... So unlike the original Chaos Demons, Cody comes home and isn't able to confront his family with the disastrous news right away and before he can do anything else Casius arrives. What has he done to Cody and what will happen to our young hero?

Zack has begun his training and much to his surprise he's already a little firecracker. Another character, Kasen, is partially introduced and Zack seems to be getting along with him very well for the time being. We're left to wonder how did his power and control develop so quickly and what else lies in store for him?

Dante sealed a breach in the Earth Realm, but it appears that he was already too late and a Child of Darkness is on Earth. Who is it and what will come of their early presence?

Find out the answers to these questions in **Chapter Four: In Search of Answers**, coming soon!


	6. In Search of Answers

**Chapter Four**

**_"In Search of Answers"_**

**_September 2nd  
_**

The first thing Cody became aware of as the world around him came into view was the sound of waves crashing ashore. He spun around, slightly disoriented, taking in his surroundings. If this wasn't a dream, then he really was standing on a sandy white beach with palm trees further inland and a beautiful blue-green ocean stretching into the distance as far as the eye could see. Where the hell was he? How did he go from being in the Tipton Hotel to standing on a pristine beach with the ocean a scant few feet away from him?

With a start Cody realized that there were other people nearby and he looked around, spotting a pair of little boys and also a pair of girls playing in the sand building sandcastles. There were several adults further up the shore sitting in chairs underneath a large umbrella, they were relaxing and talking amongst themselves but Cody sensed that they were keeping an eye on the children too. They were most definitely the parents.

"Excuse me mister," one of the little boys asked, running over to stand in front of Cody. He looked down at the kid who was smiling at him, missing one of his front teeth, and swore that he felt a small presence of light in the boy, "Are you a Child of the Light?"

"Uh…yeah," Cody said, taken aback by the boy's knowledge of what he was. The boy's face lit up as if he'd just opened the best Christmas present ever. Who was this kid? How did he know what Cody was?

"I'm Timothy, I'm a Paladin sir!" the boy said in an overly excited tone before scrambling back over to his playmates who had been watching the exchange, "He's a Child! He's a Child!" Seconds later Cody found all four children surrounding him and smiling happily. He felt a little awkward with all the attention, especially now that the adults were getting up and coming over as well.

"Come now kids, run along and play," a familiar voice said as its owner came up behind him. Cody looked over his shoulder and saw the older man who had been in the hallway at the Tipton with him standing a few feet away. The children scampered away and went back to building their sandcastle, but their hearts weren't in it anymore as they watched Cody.

"Casius right? What have you done to me? Where am I?"

"Calm yourself Cody, I mean you no harm," Casius said gently.

"You've got a funny way of showing it! Where am I?" Cody shot back, looking around more carefully and realizing that they were on an island with a large wooden house dominating the center of it.

"I've brought you to my home. We're on a private island in the Pacific Ocean."

"Why did you bring me here?"

"Darkness is spreading across our world, but we are safe here. We can talk without the danger of being overheard by the wrong people here."

"Oh… and who are they?" Cody asked, indicating the children and the adults with a sweep of his arm.

"They are all my sons and daughters," Casius explained.

"That boy, Timothy, said he was a Paladin. What is a Paladin?" The old man chuckled heartily and shook his head. Timothy seemed to shrink back behind his brother, his face red with embarrassment.

"Paladins are highly trained warriors who have a touch of light running through their bodies which gives them abilities that normal mortals do not possess. They fight the Demons who break through into our world and protect the innocent when the Champions of Earth are otherwise occupied."

"That's a lot of responsibility…"

"Indeed."

"How do they have the power of the light? I thought only people with souls like mine could tap into it?"

"The Paladins are the offspring of the Children of Light and they gain an imprint of their parent's power when they are born. They are stronger, faster and hardier than normal people are and some of them can even infuse their weapons with light which gives them an edge in combat. They also age slower after puberty, but they are not immortal like us."

"Whoa, whoa… Immortal?"

"Yes Cody, you're Immortal and if you haven't figured it out yet, though I'm sure you have by now, I am a Child of the Light just like you."

"You're…you're like me? Like me and Zack and Taschen?"

"Oh you've met Taschen have you? Yes, we are all the same, more or less."

"This is all so much to take in…" Cody muttered, rubbing his temples to ward off the ensuing headache he was sure to experience later.

"My apologies Cody, where are my manners? Come sit down in the shade and have something to drink," Casius offered, leading Cody over to a pair of vacant chairs placed around the round table that held the massive umbrella up. He exchanged a few pleasantries with Casius's older children and watched the younger ones creep closer so that they could overhear what the adults were talking about.

"May I introduce Cody Martin, he's our Truth Seeker and one of the defensive Champions," Casius said to his children. Cody picked up on that last part. What did he mean by 'defensive'? He made a mental note to ask about that as soon as the opportunity presented itself, "And I am Casius the Creator, Lord of the Earth Realm."

"Realm Lord?" Cody asked dumbly, surprised at just who this grandfatherly man was, "Like Ashani?"

Cody might have said that the most important person in the world had died or something judging by the reactions of the people around him. All of the children, young and old, gasped in horror and Casius's warm smile turned to a disgusted frown. He set his drink down and leaned closer to Cody.

"How could you possibly know that name?"

"In five days my twin brother will be murdered by one of his Champions and two days later he invades the Earth. Seven days from now I will watch as Taschen fights Ashani in a last ditch effort to save the world and fail miserably. I will hold Taschen in my arms as he dies and I become the last Child of Light left alive on Earth."

"I don't understand how you could know that…" Casius began, but then he paused and examined Cody more closely, seeming to look inside of him, "My god! The White Knight is inside of you! Both of you are tainted by temporal energy…"

"I'm from the future Casius and…and I think my brother's soul is watching over me."

"Tell me everything."

* * *

"Tell you everything?" Kasen repeated, looking back at Zack who was freshly showered and changed into the same kind of strange clothes that his 'guide' was wearing. Standing at just over six feet in height, Kasen was a good deal taller than him and he was older as well, possibly in his mid twenties. Both of them were dressed completely in white, loose fitting pants that tucked into comfortable boots, long sleeved shirts with collars and a vest over top of it that had four buttons keeping it snug around his chest. All along the white clothing were lines of highly reflective golden material that sparkled when they caught the light just right.

Zack felt absurdly over dressed in these fancy clothes, but Kasen had insisted that they were the proper attire for him and that no one would make fun of him because of what he wore.

"Why are we dressed like this again?" Zack asked, picking at the cuff of his right sleeve. After getting out of the dungeon where he had killed the Troll, Zack had met Kasen who instructed him to take a shower and then get dressed for dinner where he would finally get some answers.

"This is the customary clothing for us."

"I've been meaning to ask about that. Just what are we?"

"We are Children of the Light, born into the world with timeless souls created by the very force from which we draw our power. We stand between the Darkness and all that we wish to protect."

"I'm sorry, but that sounds so…un-original," Zack commented despite feeling intrigued at being a part of something so important.

"It is what it is my fellow Knight," Kasen replied, shrugging his shoulders in response, "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah I guess," Zack said, examining his clothing one last time with mixed feelings. It did look pretty good on him, just white wasn't his preferred color, "Why did you call me a Knight anyway? I haven't been knighted or anything."

"The title refers to our souls, they are reborn into new bodies when we die taking with them all of our skills, instincts and reflexes which the next person will inherit like you did when you fought the Troll."

"So that's why I didn't feel afraid for awhile?" Zack asked, remembering the supreme confidence that had flowed through him. Of course, he must have had the experience of countless other warriors unconsciously guiding his actions. Kasen simply nodded an affirmative.

"You are the White Knight of Earth Zack and I am the White Knight of Haven. Sort of like your opposite number."

"What's Haven?"

"Haven is a Realm aligned to the light, just like Earth is," Kasen said in an offhand manner as if that explained it all, "When it comes down to it, Earth and Haven are the strongest of the light realms and the only ones who come to each other's aid."

"Are you telling me that Haven is another planet or something?"

"Yeah, you're on Haven. You know that right?"

"No…"

"Casius didn't tell you?"

"He didn't tell me jack. I don't really know what I am or what's going on."

"Wow…uh…guess you have a lot of catching up to do…"

"You think?" Zack asked incredulously.

"Well, I'm sure Lady Athena will be more than happy to explain everything to you then."

"Athena's here?" Zack said in wonderment, remembering his history teacher talking about the ancient Greek gods. It was one of the few times he'd actually been interested enough to pay attention.

"Yep."

* * *

**A/N:** It's a short chapter yeah, but an interesting one. Cody finally gets the opportunity to talk to Casius, but what will the outcome of their discussion be? Does the Realm Lord have a plan to save the world or is it too late to prevent the coming disaster? Will Cody see more of the Paladins in the coming days?

And for Zack, we finally learn that he is on another Light Realm called Haven recuperating and training under the guidance of Lady Athena's Children of Light! We also learn why Zack is getting 'along' so well with Kasen, because their souls share the same role as White Knight. I was intending to do the little dinner meeting with Athena and her CoL, but I decided to scrub it since we won't see any of them again except Kasen and I'm loathe to develop new characters and settings right now. I hope to go back and add it in later, so for the time being just go with the fact that Zack learns some of Haven's background and gets a glimpse at the bigger picture.

What we miss from the dinner meeting is the fact that Haven is under near constant assault by two other dark realms in addition to being close to the Time Realm (which so far has been quiet) and this is why they are unable to aid Earth against Chaos as it's taking Haven everything that it has to stay safe and that it's a strain on the other Champions to have Kasen away from the front lines to train Zack, but one that they will gladly endure if it means giving Earth a chance to survive. Haven does not want to fight to the two weak dark realms it already has on its plate in addition to Time and Chaos both. Earth by the way is the most distant of all the Light Realms, and in close proximity to Chaos, which is why only the far flung Haven can help them. Casius also shows up to ask about Zack's progress which is going well enough, but he's still not ready.

Stay tuned for **Chapter Five: Prelude to Invasion**


	7. Prelude to Invasion

**Chapter Five**

**_"Prelude to Invasion"_**

Cody groaned as he ran his fingers through his short blond hair and pulled at the roots. He was back in the hallway on the twenty third floor of the Tipton where Casius had taken him from a few hours earlier. It had taken awhile, but Cody had told the Realm Lord everything that had happened to him in his original timeline. Now, Casius had returned him to this place with the promise that he would send help when the invasion began and the instructions to make contact with his family, tell them what was going on, train the twins to defend themselves and keep them safe.

He hadn't expected this… Cody thought that by coming into the past and warning the other Children of Light of the coming invasion that they might somehow be able to stop it from happening. Unfortunately this was not the way Casius made it sound. According to him, the invasion was an event that couldn't be stopped and all that they could do now thanks to Cody's warning was prepare themselves as best as they could.

How was it possible that there was no way to devise a strategy to stop the invasion from happening? Why didn't Casius offer to train Cody to be a better fighter if they had to fight? Cody needed all the help he could get when it came to fighting the Champions of Chaos. Just what kind of help was the Realm Lord going to send anyway?

"Ugh! I hate this," Cody said aloud.

"Still looking for the right room?" Carey Martin asked, surprising Cody as she stopped several feet away from him and started to dig into her purse for her room key.

"No…actually I came here to talk to you," Cody answered, feeling an incredible weight lift from his shoulders now that he had finally made his intentions clear to his family.

"Sorry, do I know you?" She asked, opening the door and stepping halfway inside. It was a prudent safety precaution, allowing her to be able to lock herself in her suite if Cody turned out to be some kind of weirdo or something. He suddenly found it hard to speak under the gaze of her intense scrutiny and he only managed to mumble his name."

"Cody."

"Excuse me?" Carey asked, not quite sure if she had heard him right and if she had, she wanted a good explanation as to why an eighteen year old young man would know her son's name. Cody took a deep breath to settle his nerves and repeated what he had meant to say before in a clear voice.

"I'm Cody, two years from now." Carey's eyebrow arched in disbelief, just how it always did when she thought her twins were lying to her.

"I think you need to leave young man," She said before slamming the door shut and throwing the deadbolt lock for added safety. Cody balled his hands into fists, angry that his own mother would just brush him aside like that and then he calmed down when he realized it was just a natural reaction. As far as his mother was concerned he was just some crazy eighteen year old, probably high on one drug or another, claiming to be her son. He would have to prove it to her.

"Mom listen to me," Cody began, speaking loud enough for his voice to carry through the door into the living room, "I know it sounds crazy, but I am Cody and I'm from two years into the future." He briefly rolled his eyes, realizing how cliché' he sounded even to his own ears.

"Yeah right, I'm calling security."

"Look, when I was eight I stole twenty dollars from your wallet to buy a couple of scary books that you wouldn't let me and Zack read and then you found the books and grounded us for a month!" Cody paused for only a second before launching into his next recollection, "When I was seven, I pushed Zack off the porch and he broke his arm! He hated me for it and wouldn't talk to me for days and I told you that I felt so bad I just wanted to die."

"I…When I was six years old, Dad took me shopping just before Christmas because I hadn't gotten you anything. We stopped at a Church when it started snowing real bad and that Priest offered me a lollypop, but when he looked into my eyes he started screaming at me. He called me a devil child and chased us out of there…" Cody stopped talking and closed his eyes as he forced himself not to cry over his mother's rejection of his identity and let his head rest on the door frame.

"What do I have to do to prove it to you…?" Cody pleaded. To his utmost surprise the door opened and Carey Martin stepped back out into the hallway. She gently grabbed his chin and guided his head away from the wall before turning his face so that she could look him in the eyes. His mother stared into them for what seemed like an eternity before her eyes started to travel around his face lingering on the triangular pattern formed by the three small moles on the right side of his face and also the lone mole on his chin.

Cody watched his mother's emotions begin to change as her facial expression changed from curiosity to disbelief before he finally saw what he had been waiting and hoping for. Though her confusion remained, Cody saw the telltale signs of recognition break out on his mother's face. She placed both hands on his shoulders and stepped back to examine him head to toe.

"I…I don't understand! How can you be my Cody when he's right there?" Carey asked tearing her gaze away from him, no doubt looking back into the suite at the Cody Martin of the present. Her voice was rising in pitch as well and he feared that she might become hysterical if he didn't calm her down quick.

"If he's from two years into the future, then it's possible for there to be two of us standing here right now," the younger Cody said, peering around the doorway, getting his first glimpse of his future self. Carey looked back to Cody and stared into his eyes one last time.

"Cody Martin, it really is you!" She stated and then before he knew what was happening Cody was falling into his mother's embrace.

"Oh god Mom, I've missed you so much," Cody sobbed as he rested his head on her shoulder, pulling her into long needed hug despite the awkwardness of her touch.

"How is this possible?" Carey asked softly, gently rubbing his back to comfort him like she had done when he was a child.

"It's a long story…"

* * *

The ground beneath Dante's feet cracked in all directions for several feet as his aura of white light expanded. He felt a cool gel-like substance form around his body and glow brightly as it formed into the familiar shape of his lightweight plate armor. His armor was a deep jade green color with silver accents. Underneath the armor and visible in places where the plates did not cover so as to not restrict mobility was a think formfitting black suit that provided cushioning for the weight of the armor and helped absorb the kinetic energy of physical impacts. Surprisingly it breathed fairly well too, wicking away sweat to keep him from overheating.

Across the warehouse the Child of Darkness was donned in a similar, albeit more sinister looking, suit of midnight black armor. As his enemy came closer, taking slow and cautious steps forward, Dante recognized him from their last encounter roughly around two hundred and forty years ago. During the height of the American Revolution in which Dante had been a part of, fighting in the Colonial Army under none other than George Washington at the young age of seventeen he had inadvertently stumbled upon another gap in the Earth's defenses. He hadn't known what he was at the time, but after his brief encounter with this man who had been a boy back then exploring across realms Dante's world had never been the same.

"Chiam, my how you've grown," Dante said sarcastically as he sized up the Champion of Chaos. They were roughly equal in height, shared the same brown eyes though Chiam kept his golden brown hair cut short while Dante preferred to spike his own black short hair. The Champion of Chaos bore a thin white scar on one side of his neck that stood out even in the dim light inside the warehouse. Dante had been the one to make such a mark on the other boy ages ago when they had fought each other clumsily, neither of them trained in proper combat between Children of opposing cosmic forces.

Now though, things would be different. They were both grown up, much stronger both physically and mentally with their power and while Dante had been in his fair share of battles, he doubted he had anywhere close to the level of experience Chiam had in combat. Dark realms were constantly battling each other when they weren't invading light realms. This fight could turn ugly very quickly.

"It's been a long time Dante," Chiam said by way of greeting, fingering the scar on his neck with his free hand. In his right hand he carried an obsidian black sword which glowed a dull red and had wisps of black smoke curling away from the blade. Dante's own blade, Freedom, flared angrily as if it could sense Chiam's sword and sparks of white light shot away from it as streams of electricity raced back and forth down the length of the reflective surface.

"I suppose I should ask you what you're doing here, but I think I already know…" Dante said, realizing that the best course of action would be to try and keep Chiam talking and buy time for his fighting partner Taschen to arrive. Surely he had sensed their power levels by now and was on the way.

Without warning Chiam rushed forward through the air, using his power of darkness to keep his body in the air and Dante sidestepped out of the way, bringing Freedom horizontally across his chest to deflect Chiam's sword. With the Champion of Chaos's opening attack failure to achieve anything significant, Dante had the advantage for a split second and sent a blast of light chasing after his opponent. Chiam must have been preparing for some sort of retaliation for he dropped down and rolled on his side, narrowly avoiding the bolt of white light that raced over him before he came back to his feet.

"Not bad, but I'm better," Chiam said, grinning savagely before breaking into a sprint that quickly closed the gap between them and went on the offensive with his sword. Dante fell back on his instincts and worked overtime to block or turn Chiam's attacks. He was very fast and each of his attacks hit with incredible force.

They kept at it for a full minute, Chiam clearly the better man with the sword before Dante managed to force him backwards and they began to circle each other, watching for any opening that they could exploit. The Champion of Chaos didn't even look in the least bit tired by the high speed exchange of powerful blows, the only visible sign of exertion was a thin bead of sweat that had broken out on his forehead. Dante on the other hand was worn out already, his face was covered in sweat and his chest heaved as he took in one deep breath after another.

"You are completely out of shape!" Chiam laughed, "I could do this for hours!"

Dante seethed in anger as Chiam pointed out his obvious weaknesses. Although the power of the light made him a very powerful warrior, it didn't help to prepare his body for the exertion of true combat. He had been slacking off way too much, and now it would be the death of him.

"I'll make you a deal," Chiam said, catching Dante off guard. Children of Darkness were not known to negotiate with their sworn enemies, "Tell me where the other Children of Light are and I won't kill you."

"Never!"

"That's such a definite word, 'Never'. Maybe you'll reconsider when I start cutting your limbs off one at a time?" Chiam advanced while Dante started to back up. He wouldn't give up the other Children of Light's identities or locations. Not ever! And there was no way he was going down without a fight either.

Just as Chiam prepared to renew his offensive, a thunderous boom rippled through the warehouse and an entire corner collapsed as someone flew through the destruction. Taschen had arrived, looking magnificent as ever in his red and gold armor surrounded by the golden aura that marked him as a defensive Champion. He caught Chiam dead on, whipping his strong kite shield around in a half circle and bashing the Champion of Chaos off of his feet.

"Thought you'd never get here," Dante muttered and Taschen took his place next to him, his large shield facing forward ready to block attacks aimed at either one of them.

"Traffic's a bitch," Taschen replied as Chiam sprung back to his feet and dropped into a defensive stance, his eyes flicking back and forth between the two of them. Both of them noticed as Chiam shifted his feet.

"Think he's gonna book?" Dante whispered, tightening his grip on Freedom. Before Taschen could give his opinion, Chiam leapt into the air and smashed his way through the roof of the warehouse, showering them with debris.

"Yup," Taschen coughed as a cloud of dust blasted the two of them, "And there he goes."

"I really don't want to chase that son of a bitch." Dante complained in exasperation.

"You don't have much of a choice though…" Taschen replied as he took to the air in pursuit.

* * *

**A/N:** Yep…a totally new and rewritten scene where Cody meets his family and tries to get them to believe who he is. This one is definitely more believable than the original if I do say so myself. There's also a slight reference to the Legend of the Black Knight and a memory mentioned that was relived in Cody's dreams in Somnium of Nex if anyone wants to point out the obvious =)

And now we learn that Dante is slightly older than the United States and that he had encountered Chiam as a young teen ages ago. After a brief skirmish, it's obvious that Chiam is the superior warrior but once Taschen makes his debut, he is wary of fighting both of them. That's not his only reason for running though heh!

On a side note, due to the fact that I had to fix the chronology of the story, Chapter 5 incorporates the larger pieces of writing from Chapter's 5 and 6 while 6 is both of the shorter parts meaning that that Chapter is pretty slim. But at least it will make sense now! =)

Also, be sure to check out the side project that I'm working on _**'Demi-God"**_


	8. Preying Upon the Weak

**Chapter Six**

**_"Preying Upon The Weak"_**

His presence concealed deeper within the abandoned warehouse and his almost undetectable energy signature completely drowned out by Chiam's impressive display of raw power, Jarran Noh'Malkiri left his hiding place a few moments after the two Children of Light had gone. Although Chiam was easily more than a match for either of them, Jarran held no illusions that his own impressive power at his young age would be insufficient if he was discovered by them.

The fifteen year old Child of Darkness examined his surroundings briefly, looking for a more subtle exit in the warehouse seeing as how there was a crowd of people starting to gather around the hole that Taschen had made. This mission was already screwed up because of the Children of Light's inexplicable presence at the small gateway into the Earth Realm. Chiam could afford to be discovered however, he was strong enough to fight if he needed to as well as being very fast and cunning in the event that he needed to elude any pursuers. Jarran on the other hand had to remain hidden at all costs. No one outside of the Chaos Realm had ever seen him before which made it unlikely that any of the Children of Light would recognize him in passing and while he had completed Level Two Champion training, his own power level was just low enough to avoid detection when he wasn't channeling the darkness.

Their mission was fairly straightforward. They were to find the newly reborn Children of Light, who were roughly half a year older than Jarran by now, and eliminate them. Jarran would act as the infiltrator, mingling among people his own age in search of the three Children of Light who had died and been reborn sixteen years ago. Once he found the Truth Seeker, White Knight and Warden Jarran was to contact Chiam who would assassinate them before returning to the Chaos Realm to inform Ashani of the results. With half of Earth's Champions dead, the world would surely fall in the invasion that would be launched shortly thereafter.

Chiam and Jarran had come through the gateway after the advance party, which consisted of several mortal spies and a small complement of Demons ordered to support the spies themselves, had been on Earth for several days securing the gateway. The advance party had made contact with the permanent spies emplaced on Earth and learned that the three newly reborn Children hadn't been spotted anywhere in the world, leading Chiam to believe that their powers lie dormant and that they were being protected by the other three. The permanent spies had tracked the movements and appearances of the three active Children and came to the realization that they were spotted in a city called Boston, Massachusetts a hundred times more than in any other location. The conclusion was obvious…Most, if not all, of the dormant three were here in Boston and so the advance party had setup the gate to bring Chiam and Jarran into the heart of the city.

The two Children of Darkness had just finished getting briefed on all of this information when they felt the approach of their enemy. Chiam had instructed Jarran to hide while he determined what to do about the Child of Light. At first Jarran had been perplexed as to why Chiam had revealed himself, but then the more he thought about it Jarran realized that his cousin had acted brilliantly. With those two Children of Light out of the way in pursuit of Chiam who could easily elude them for days, Jarran was free to move about the city and perhaps even use his own power to trigger his dormant targets into revealing themselves.

"Where to start?" Jarran wondered aloud as he slipped out a side door and stepped into an empty alleyway. Pandora had told him much about the people of the Earth Realm, including the fact that most all of them age eighteen or younger went to school together in massive numbers. That would be where Jarran would start. He would find appropriate attire for people his age and then begin infiltrating the schools in the city in his search for the reborn Children.

* * *

**_September 3rd_**

Zack juked to his left, narrowly avoiding a bolt of white light that impacted the ground directly in front of him. Chunks of dirt cashed after him in the ensuing explosion, but he had little time to recover as another bolt came out of the sky aiming for him. He skidded to a halt and ran a few steps back the way he had come, dodging not only that attack but an additional pair aimed slightly to the left and right of where it impacted which would have caught him had he dodged in either of those directions. Keeping his eyes trained warily on the sky, Zack paused to catch his breath. After an hour of being a moving target for Kasen, who was sending a relentless assault of light raining down on him from high above, he was totally exhausted. Kasen called this training; Zack called it cruel and unusual torture.

"Can't we stop yet?" He asked loudly, his voice carrying easily to the top of the empty coliseum that he was trapped inside of where Kasen had positioned himself.

"I told you Zack, we'll be done with this training when you make me stop!" Kasen called back. At first Zack had thought that this exercise was to teach him how to dodge energy blasts and keep him on his toes, but as it progressed he began to realize that Kasen wanted more of him.

"And just how the hell do I do that?" Zack asked in exasperation, throwing his hands up in the air. He was nearly hit by another blast of light, but Zack managed to jump out of the way at the last second.

"What did you have to do to get past the Troll?"

"Use my power?"

"Good, now that you've figured out that I am trying to get you to use your power, maybe you'll start using it!" Zack flinched at the verbal slap and balled his hands into fists. He hated being treated like a child and he hated being talked down to. Zack didn't have a clue as to what he was doing when he wielded his power, but maybe the instincts of his predecessors would help him out again.

"If I'm weak, Cody will die…" Zack whispered under his breath, imaging the monsters surrounding his twin brother ready to kill him. With the spoken words and the images conjured up by his imagination, Zack created the motivation he needed to tap into his power.

As the familiar rush of energy filled him, a fusillade of beams rained down upon him. He didn't have time to get out of the way so he crossed his arms in front of his face, his only thoughts centering on trying to shield his body. Zack was surprised when the glow of white light around his body, his aura as Kasen had explained it to him, expanded outward for a couple of feet in all directions and took shape as a thin bubble of translucent energy. Several of Kasen's beams were deflected outright, bouncing off the shield and shooting off in random trajectories while the rest were absorbed by the shield which dispersed the energy evenly around it.

"Cool!" Zack said, looking up at Kasen and grinning in satisfaction.

"That's more like it. Show me what you've got!"

Zack began running as more beams of light came down, but as he dodged them; he found that Kasen had more tricks up his sleeve. A half dozen spheres of white light screamed after him, but even after dodging them, Zack realized that they were tracking him and giving chase. He dove to the ground as all six of them shot past and picked his head up to see them veer off and come back around.

An idea formed in his head and he thought about how he had made the shield, but directed his imagination to envision his aura having the same effect. Zack jumped back to his feet and whirled around evading all but one of the spheres. With his right hand he slapped it away from him as hard as he could and directed it back at Kasen who nimbly jumped out of the way as the sphere impacted the upper tier of the coliseum where he had been standing a second before. To his relief, Zack noticed that the other five spheres of light had disappeared and he figured that it must take concentration to maintain their cohesion.

Zack also was aware of a feeling of familiarity from when his hand had briefly come into contact with Kasen's energy. It was like an old memory had been stirred by that action and his hands moved of their own accord. He wasn't quite sure as to what he was doing, but Zack figured he would go along with his instincts anyway. The next thing he knew, he was sloppily exchanging fire with Kasen although his own attacks were getting more controlled and more accurate over time.

Feeling a rush of triumph at finally being able to fight back, Zack blanketed the top tier with a heavy volume of fire and watched in satisfaction as Kasen disappeared in the expanding supernova of white light. Satisfied with his work, Zack stopped attacking and waited for the brilliant light to fade so that he could see clearly again. Kasen was nowhere to be seen.

"Never lose sight of your enemy!" Kasen scolded Zack as he put him in a headlock from behind. How had he gotten behind him so fast? How did he miss that?

"I made you stop!" Zack coughed, trying to pry the other Child's arms away from his neck.

"So you did," Kasen agreed, letting go of Zack who fell to his knees as he tried to regain his breath, "We'll take a quick lunch break and then you'll fight some more Demons in the Pit of Despair."

"Lovely…" Zack muttered, his sense of triumph completely gone.

* * *

**A/N:** Looks like Zack is finally getting the hang of things eh?

And so my favorite OC is on the loose in the Earth Realm with a mission to find our hero's and then call in the big guns. How long can the Martin family remain hidden from Jarran?

Find out in **Chapter Seven: "Wolf In Sheep's Clothing"**

P.S. The Black Knight reference in Chapter 5 was in relation to Cody's retold memories from when he was a kid and the Priest called him a 'devil child'. To be explained in the next story in the series =)


	9. Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

**Chapter Seven**

**_"Wolf In Sheep's Clothing"_**

Jarran Noh'Malkiri smiled smugly to himself as he made his way into Cheever's High School without hassle. He'd acquired new clothing the night before and had dressed like a 'skater', whatever that was, as an adult had commented about his garment choices on the street earlier that morning.

There were people moving all around him with all manner of skin, hair and eye colors which made it extremely easy for him to blend into the crowd. Nothing about his appearance made him stand out. He wasn't too comfortable with so many bodies in close proximity to him however, since as a Champion of the Chaos Realm he was given a wide berth by everyone in his home. The only time his personal space was violated frequently was during training by whomever he was sparring with or when Pandora just wanted to give him an affectionate touch. This was a new experience for him and he had to fight hard to block out the uneasiness he was feeling.

Nevertheless, Jarran felt like he was hot on the trail. Last night during his operation to acquire appropriate clothing for the following day, he had felt a brief flare of light energy with his sixth sense and he had hurried to locate the source before it faded away completely. He hadn't been able to pinpoint it exactly, but he had scouted the area all night and discovered this school in close proximity to where he believed he had sensed the light. It was only a matter of time now…

As the day progressed, Jarran became accustomed to the routine of the hour long classes the students were subjected too and the short period in between where they moved to their next one. He had figured out after his first disastrous attempt at sitting in on one that there was some sort of roster that determined who was supposed to be in the room and since he wasn't on it he stood out. Now, as classes were in progress, he wandered the hallways easily avoiding the few adults who policed the area for students out of class. On the rare occasion that he was questioned about what he was doing, Jarran just used the timeless excuse that he was going to the restroom and ducked into the nearest one for awhile.

All throughout the morning he methodically canvassed the entire school during every period of time that classes were in session in a powered up state, albeit a weak one, that broadcasted the darkness in a small radius around him. It was far too weak of an output to be detected beyond the school's boundaries so he felt relatively safe that none of the awakened Children of Light would be able to pick up on it. However, it was just enough power that if he came within fifty feet or so of a dormant Child of Light he could trigger an involuntary release of their power and zero in on them.

Midday approached and Jarran found himself caught up in the surge of people all heading to the same destination and he figured it was best to go with the flow. His cover was still completely intact and he didn't believe anyone gave him a second glance after he had passed. He was aware of a large number of girls staring at him and averting their eyes when he looked back at them. This didn't make him uncomfortable in the slightest though. Jarran had seen this reaction before and knew that he was receiving those looks because he was 'devilishly handsome' as Pandora described him and because Chiam had told him that women were drawn to men when they were in a powered up state and vice versa no matter which cosmic force it was.

Jarran looked nothing like his father except for sharing the same angular jaw line that was unremarkable and some streaks of black in his otherwise white blond hair that he surely had inherited from his mother along with his vividly green eyes. He had never known his mother, nor had he ever seen a picture of her, but during extremely rare moments when they were alone together Ashani would tell his son of her beauty and just how much he reminded him of her. In addition to what he had inherited, his extremely grueling Champion training had put him in the best shape of his life and it showed easily despite the baggy clothing he wore.

Briefly lost in thought about who his mother was, Jarran was taken aback when he found himself in a large room where countless numbers of smells assaulted his nose. He was in some kind of mess hall and was smelling dozens of alien dishes being served to the students who were packed into the room. The level of noise bothered him too, there was so much going on it was hard to pick up on auditory cues that would alert him to the smallest sign of danger. Surely the whole school couldn't fit into this large room, but it was such a large gathering that Jarran found it a pleasant surprise. He would stay here as long as the numbers of students remained high and continue scouting for…

Jarran blinked in surprise as he felt his mental radar ping off something to his immediate right and looked to the far side of the lunch room trying to locate the source. He was surprised how quickly he had found one of the dormant Children of Light, despite his extremely high intelligence and calculated planning. He made his way over to a table that had three people sitting at it.

There were two girls, both had straight shoulder length hair though one of them was brown while the other's hair was raven black. The one with the black hair also wore glasses and she was sitting across from a guy with bright red curly hair. Jarran unconsciously found his eyes drawn to the brown haired girl who was looking at the tray of food in front of her unmoving. She was the one and he immediately powered down so as not to arouse any suspicion from her. His best bet now would be to observe her, possibly even make contact, and find out where she lived so he could tell Chiam where to find her and maybe by being in close proximity to her the other two dormant Children might be revealed.

"I wonder where Cody is… It's not like him to miss school," the black haired girl commented to the guy she was talking to.

"Yeah, I haven't seen Zack either, though that's no surprise…" the red head replied, then turned to address the brown haired girl, "You haven't seen them either have you Max?"

"Uh, no I haven't," Max answered, her tone clearly indicating that something was bothering her.

"Are you ok?" the black haired girl asked.

"I feel…weird…" and then Jarran moved out of earshot of the group. He sat down at a mostly empty table several rows away with his eyes trained on the back of Max's head. So this girl was one of the Children of Light he was after, could it be that these other two people 'Zack' and 'Cody' be the other ones? This might take some time to figure out Jarran realized and started working on a plan to initiate contact with her in hopes that she would befriend him, making things a whole lot easier.

Now what would put him in her good graces very quickly? Then Jarran smiled evilly as an idea came to him. People who were rescued from certain death situations often developed a strong attachment to their rescuers. All he needed was to follow her until the time was right for that situation to occur and then be her knight in shining armor. As to what he would use to make her think she was in mortal peril…well, there were still a few Demons left running around the city.

* * *

This time around Zack took hold of his power from the start and leapt nimbly down into the 'Pit of Despair' as Kasen had called it earlier and stretched out his right arm, commanding the sword he had wielded against the Troll to reform. Fortitude sprang into existence in a flare of white light so quickly and giving off a sense of giddy excitement that Zack believed it was a living creature for a moment before he realized it was his own emotions flooding into his consciousness. He was starting to enjoy channeling the light and wielding his powers. As his aura of white light surrounded him, he looked up at Kasen.

"Bring it." Kasen rolled his eyes and signaled to someone out of Zack's line of sight.

"Begin!"

The pit wasn't overly large, maybe twenty or twenty five feet in diameter. It was going to be a close quarters battle for sure. Across the pit, a metal gateway opened and Orcs streamed into the pit, bellowing war cries and brandishing axes and crude swords at him.

Zack held up his left hand and released a pair of bolts of energy that sizzled and crackled across the open space and slammed into a pair of the Demons, disintegrating them completely. As the remaining Orcs closed in on him, Zack fell back on his instincts one again and began to move in a way he had never moved before. It was almost as if he was dancing among them, weaving in and out of the paths of their weapons and cutting them down before they knew what was going on.

In under a minute Zack had decimated all but one Orc who stood by the gate growling angrily at him. He tucked Fortitude back behind his left shoulder and then released his right arm in wide arc traveling across his body before letting go of the sword, propelling it toward the final Demon. Fortitude caught the Orc in the chest and imparted enough kinetic energy into the creature to hurl it backwards into the gate.

"Done!" Zack announced.

"You think you're done?" Kasen asked as he jumped down into the pit, "Yes, I can see you've finally learned how to crawl, but you are FAR from done." He made another signal with his hand and several smaller gates around them opened. A dozen Orcs rushed into the pit and encircled the two Children of Light, slowly closing in around them.

Zack felt the other man's power swell far above what he had felt when he was wielding it and the ground started shaking. What happened next was almost too fast for him to follow. Columns of light erupted out of the ground and trapped every single Orc. Then Kasen extended both arms to either side and a shockwave of white light exploded in all directions and vaporized all of the Demons upon contact.

"Killing Demons is child's play for people like you and me, which is why it is not our primary concern in combat."

"What is our concern?" Zack asked, cowed by Kasen's display of extraordinary power and control, somehow knowing that he wasn't going to like the answer.

"We have to fight the Children of Darkness and they are far more dangerous than any Demon."

"So…when do I start training to fight them?" Zack wondered.

"Right now!" Kasen answered, whipping his sword around so fast that it was a blur. Zack hadn't even seen him summon it…

* * *

Maxine Baker, a good friend of the Martin twins and Zack's one time girlfriend walked off the campus of Cheever's High School, glad that the day was over. Barbara Brownstein accompanied her as her parent's apartment wasn't too far from Max's.

"Feeling better?" Barbara asked, referring to Max's temporary bout of uneasiness at lunch.

"Yes, thanks," Max lied, not wanting to talk about it with her. She wasn't sure what had happened today, but ever since lunch she had been feeling an electric tingle crawl up and down her spine. It wasn't painful, but it was quite distracting.

"So did you see that drop dead gorgeous guy who walked by us at lunch?" Barbara asked, picking up on Max's subtle que that she wanted to talk about something else.

"Huh?"

"I really only saw him from behind as he walked past us, but Melanie told me all about him. She also said that he was looking right at you! How could you have missed him?" Barbara asked incredulously.

"I guess I was busy feeling sick?" Max snapped back, "Besides, I'm not interested in dating right now."

"Oh why not? You've been free for so long and Zack isn't going to change his ways any time soon…"

"Oh just shut it. I don't want to talk about it," Max interrupted, exasperated with the whole discussion. They walked the rest of the way home in silence and didn't talk to each other again until Barbara had to turn and head for her apartment a couple of blocks away.

"See you tomorrow Max and…sorry about all that stuff."

"It's ok Barb, I'm sorry I blew my top. Cya tomorrow."

Max continued walking home, her mind running in circles about nothing in particular. It came as a complete surprise to her when two men came out of nowhere and roughly grabbed hold of her. A hand clamped over her mouth to keep her screams from being heard and then she was forced into the back of a van with her captors. The doors slammed shut and everything went dark.

* * *

"Tell me where the other Children of Light are!" One of the spies demanded of Max who was tied to the chair that she was sitting in. Jarran watched and waited out of Max's sight as his agents interrogated her. He'd come up with this idea after leaving the school. He would come to her rescue, but it didn't hurt to question her before then just to be on the safe side.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Max screamed at them, struggling against her bonds.

"Have any of them ever contacted you?" The other spy asked.

"I don't…no, no one crazy like you has ever talked to me!" Jarran made the signal that he was ready to begin the rescue and stood up. He tapped into a small amount of darkness and summoned his obsidian sword into his hand. Defiance gleamed dully in the dim afternoon sunlight streaming in through the windows high above in the old storage facility adjacent to the warehouse where Jarran had arrived on Earth.

"I think you're lying girl. Perhaps our pet will help loosen your tongue." Both men turned away and left the building.

"What the hell?" Max stammered as a lone Orc entered her field of vision and approached her. She began screaming for help and Jarran obliged. He sprinted across the storeroom from where he had been sitting on a pile of boxes, leapt over a couple of empty stacked pallets, landed on his right foot, took a balancing step with his left and then swung Defiance just inches above Max's head with all of his weight to compensate for the lack of strength in his low power mode and watched in satisfaction and his blade buried itself in the Orc's chest. The lesser Demon made a strange gurgling sound as it died and then fell backwards anti-climatically.

Jarran left Defiance lodged in the Orc as he quickly hurried to untie the ropes holding Max to the chair. It would do better for his cover if she didn't get a good look at it or discover the extent of his powers. There was commotion and raised voices coming from close by as the two spies no doubt heard the creature fall. They were instructed to give Jarran just enough time to get Max free and start running with her before they gave chase that they wouldn't maintain for long.

"Oh my god, what was that thing? Oh thank you, thank you…" Max stammered as Jarran finally freed her.

"We've gotta get out of here," He said, in what he hoped was an appropriate tone of voice for someone running away from the 'bad guys'. Jarran admired the fact that she did not protest in the slightest, rather stood up right away and looked to him before they both broke into a fast paced run out of the building. As planned, the spies gave chase for a short distance before giving up.

Once he determined that they were at a safe distance, Jarran stopped running in order to give Max a break. She was breathing heavily and he found himself pretending to be winded as well, even though he was far from it.

"Are you ok?" He asked, adding a note of concern to his voice.

"Yes," Max panted, "Thanks to you." She suddenly walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. Jarran returned the hug, playing along perfectly as the bashful hero.

"How can I ever thank you enough?" Max asked, pulling away slightly so that she could look up into his face as Jarran stood half a head taller than her.

"You could let me walk you home?" He suggested and Max gratefully accepted his chivalrous offer.

"Do you know what that thing was?"

"Unfortunately I do…"

* * *

**A/N:** You didn't think I'd let my best OC sit on the sidelines for long do you? Jarran is on Earth, blending in with no one the wiser as to his presence and now he's begun searching for the dormant Children of Light, Max, Zack and Code. Thanks to a flare of light energy near Cheever's High School (that was Cody using his power to prove the story he was telling to his family was true) Jarran decided to check there first and found Max!

Now that he's found Max, how long will it be before he finds the twins especially now that he has her trust? What a way to win a lady, intentionally put her in harms' way and then come to her rescue! Boy Jarran can put on a good act huh?

Meanwhile Zack is improving with every training bout, but Kasen shows the young warrior that he still has much to learn by going critical with his power and vaporizing those Demons in the blink of an eye. Play time's over now as Zack directly fights Kasen for the first time as the older CoL prepares him for combat against the Champions of Chaos.

Stay tuned for **Chapter Eight: "Preparations" **because you won't find out what happens to Jarran and Max until **Chapter Nine: "Enemy In Thy Midst" **muwaha! Reviews make it happen faster. Motivation baby =)

Shout out (and my thanks) to _Tiger, Waldo_ and _Wyn_ for keeping me going strong and picking my brain on the forums!

Also, I'm adding Character Analysis's for the characters seen in the Chaos Series with information collected from all of the stories as well as some bonus info from my own notes on them. This should appear in the Chaos Realm forums soon. Feel free to join in and ask questions or leave comments. First up is my bad boy Jarran himself.


	10. Preparations

**Chapter Eight**

**"Preparations"**

Cody had spent the better part of the night retelling the story of what had happened to him over the last two years to his family and answering their questions. During this, he had made a small display of his powers to help reinforce his promise that everything he was telling them was true. The Cody from the present or Code, a shortened form of the nickname Codester, as the Cody from the future began to refer to his younger self as took the news about as well as could be expected. Zack, having recently returned from the skate park, took it quietly and Cody couldn't help but see the horror and fear he was struggling to hide from everyone. Carey was in denial over the whole thing, but she too began to believe what Cody said was true and began asking him what he planned to do to keep them safe.

The twins had gone to bed, their thoughts centering upon the impending doom that was to befall the world and themselves personally. As Cody stayed up talking with his mother, he occasionally heard the twins talking to each other and he couldn't help but smile at the strength of their brotherly bond. They were working things out and promising to protect each other.

As the hour grew later and Cody started to yawn more frequently, his mother started fussing over his well being and demanded that he get some rest so that they could begin making preparations in the morning. Cody wasn't sure what to do with himself, but Carey flat out refused to let him sleep anywhere else but in their suite. He was family after all. In the end Carey had quietly setup a bed made out of a thick sleeping pad, blankets and a pillow in the twin's bedroom careful not to wake either of them.

Cody knew better though and he occasionally caught an eye cracked open watching him in his peripheral vision as he settled down and bade his mother good night. He lay back and sighed, angry over the lack of planning on Casius's part which left him solely responsible for his family's safety. After a short time had passed, Cody heard the rustle of sheets being moved and soon found both twins sitting down next to him.

"Can you teach me how to fight?" Zack asked, breaking the silence first, his eyes pleading in the dim light filtering in through the window.

"And me?" Code added quickly and then as Zack gave him a worried look, "I know I'm a wimp and all, but I can do this."

"There's not much I can teach in a few days, but I'll do my best. A lot of it is just automatic really, letting your instincts guide you hand," Cody explained, glad that the twins were eager to learn. It was true that he couldn't teach them much in the time that they had, but he should be able to prepare them so that they could defend themselves if necessary.

"You said you fought the Demons and the Champions many times? How? Like, I mean, how do you fight exactly?" Zack wondered, rubbing his hands together, a clear sign of his nervousness.

"Well, you tap into the light and the first thing it does is make you stronger. Next, I don't know about you Zack, but I have a sword called 'Excalibur' and a large kite shield I can use. I've also had some kind of plate armor covering my body before for added protection. After that, my most powerful ability is releasing my energy and shaping it into beams and stuff…"

"So we're like Knights, only with energy beams?" Code surmised, his tone clearly broadcasting his growing interest.

"Something like that, yeah."

"Sweet!" Zack exclaimed, then frowned as their bedroom door opened and a very stern looking Carey Martin stood in the doorway.

"Will you two hooligans let him sleep! He's had a long day and you can talk in the morning." Zack and Code wordlessly climbed back into their beds and Cody settled back down against his pillow. Tomorrow he would begin making plans to move his family somewhere safe and start training up the twins as best he could. He wanted to do more to prepare for the invasion, but as he had no idea how to contact Casius or even Taschen, Cody didn't see what else he could do except look to his immediate needs.

* * *

Feeling as though his head were in the clouds Cody sat up and looked around with a dumbfounded expression on his face. It was dark in room he was in, with only a faint hint of early morning daylight creeping in under the door. It took a few more seconds before he remembered that he'd fallen asleep on the floor of his old bedroom in the Tipton hotel. Carey had given him extra bedding to make himself comfortable and he'd passed out the moment his head hit the pillows.

In the dim light he could see Code sleeping soundly in his bed on one side and Zack on the other side tossing and turning in his sleep. Cody stood up and went to his brother's side, feeling sad for the pain he'd caused him. He blamed himself completely. It should have been only him suffering.

Zack was mumbling in his sleep, all the while he tossed and turned entangling his sheets tightly around his arms and legs. When he felt his movement restricted, he'd violently thrash around and fight against it for several seconds before rolling over on his other side. He must be having really bad nightmares…. His face and shirt were completely covered in sweat and his blond hair was plastered all over his forehead.

Gently nudging the power inside of him, Cody summoned his aura around him but kept its power to a bare minimum so that it barely gave off any light. He thought of all the happy moments he'd shared with Zack over the years, it was hard to remember ever being so happy but somehow he managed it. He reached out and grabbed Zack's hand in his own, hoping his idea would work, and smiled in satisfaction as his power flowed freely into his brother. Cody's energy carried along his happy thoughts and filled Zack with feelings of trust, friendship, the love of family and peacefulness. Within seconds his breathing slowed and he stopped struggling against his sheets, falling into a deep restful sleep.

Cody carefully untangled his brother and set the sheets back over him, but only halfway so he could cool off a bit. He brushed the hair out of Zack's face and then released his hand. That should help him sleep soundly for several hours at least.

"Oh Cody you're so sweet," Carey Martin whispered from where she stood at the bedroom door dressed in her sleeping gown. He'd been aware of her presence for awhile in the back of his mind but hadn't really thought about her while tending to his brother. Carey gave him a quick hug and then sat down on the edge of the bed next to Zack. She kissed him on the forehead and then gently stroked his hair.

Several minutes passed in silence, Cody wasn't really aware of the passage of time as Carey sat there holding her son while he stood there watching as still as a statue. Eventually she went back out into what passed for a living room in the suite and he followed.

"So what are you going to do today?" Carey asked, walking into the kitchen to make some coffee.

"I need to find a safe place for you and the twins," Cody answered, sitting down on couch and reaching for the remote. He'd thought of checking the news and maybe the internet for any strange headlines in or around Boston just before falling asleep. It was a long shot, but he might get lucky.

"With you here, do you really think that's necessary?" Carey wondered and she impatiently waited for the coffeepot to brew enough coffee so that she could get her caffeine fix and start the morning.

"This is ground zero mom, Boston gets hit first by everything the Chaos Realm has. I can't make any promises about our safety while we're here." Cody flipped on the television and started scanning the news channels, finding nothing more interesting than that an abandoned warehouse in the industrial area of Boston had suffered severe damage from an unknown cause. That might be worth reading into on the internet Cody mused.

"Where do you think we should go?"

"I'm not sure, but away from the big cities is our best bet," Cody replied, rubbing his face with his hands to help wake himself up and picking the gunk out of the corners of his eyes.

"Want some coffee?"

"Yes please." Cody gratefully accepted the mug his mother handed him and began sipping at the hot liquid.

"I didn't even know you liked coffee," Carey said conversationally as she sat down next to him.

"I picked up the habit in the future. Lily made some really good java," Cody explained, briefly remembering the warm smile of the girl he'd rescued in the subway after the invasion began.

"Lily?"

"She's uh…I rescued her from some Demons and, well we traveled together for a couple of years…" Cody said, completely baffled as to why he was so embarrassed to talk to his mother about such a personal subject. It wasn't like he was ashamed of having shared the darkest part of his life with a wonderful young woman who brightened his day no matter what happened to them.

"Oh I think there's more than that Cody Martin!" Carey teased.

"Well...yeah…she was," Cody paused to gather himself and spat it out, "We were lovers, yes."

"Love is a wonderful thing Cody. I'm happy to hear that you had someone you could share your life with in a future like that," She replied, settling her head on his shoulder, "What happened to Lily?"

"I don't know…" Cody admitted, a wave of sadness replacing the happiness, "We made it back to Boston and I went ahead to scout the Tipton for any danger before bringing her deeper inside. When I came back, she was gone and Pandora said the she was dead."

"Oh Cody, I'm so sorry…" Carey soothed, pulling his free hand into hers.

"Don't be, she would have kicked my ass if she thought I felt responsible for her death. Lily was a fighter and she would have gone down fighting, giving her life without hesitation if it meant saving the world," Cody said sadly with a half grin, remembering all the times she had scolded him for apologizing to her after every brush with death.

"Sounds like my kind of girl."

"You would have liked her," Then Cody realized something that brightened his mood, "Who knows, you might meet her some day. She's alive and well in this timeline after all."

"Let's hope it stays that way."

"I just wish I knew how they found us!" Cody said as he finished his coffee, aggravated at missing so many pieces of the puzzle.

"Maybe they sensed our presence?" said a groggy voice from behind the couch. Carey released his hand and looked over her shoulder behind them.

"Oh I'm sorry honey, we didn't wake you did we?" she asked as Code came around the couch and sat down on her other side, laying his head against her shoulder.

"No I'm fine," he answered, "I was just thinking the same thing…"

"I don't know. It's possible," Cody finally answered, shifting his gaze to the floor as though it were the most interesting thing in the world at the moment.

"We're not safe here are we?" Code asked, his tone surprisingly devoid of any hint of fear.

"We're not safe anywhere. These things popped up all over the world in a matter of hours, destroyed everything in a few months and before a year had passed they wiped out most of the world's population…" Cody paused in his grim tale for a few seconds before continuing, "The safest place now is away from the big cities and close to me."

"So what do we do now?" Code asked.

"I don't think you two should go to school today. You should start packing and stay close to the Tipton if you do have to leave. The Demons won't be here for a few more days, but it would be best to keep a low profile."

"What about training us?" Code asked, nodding in agreement with his plan.

"Training?" Carey asked in surprise, "They're not going to fight those monsters are they?"

"They need to know how to defend themselves mom. Whether we like it or not, they're going to be targeted by the enemy at one point or another and I might not be there to protect them all the time."

"You're right Cody, I'll start getting us ready to leave after breakfast so you can focus on training them." Cody thanked his mother and then looked over at the television as something drew his attention. He stared at it for a moment before realizing that the voice singing on air had triggered a memory.

"Who is that?" Cody asked as the face of a young man with brilliant blue eyes and wavy light brown hair cut short filled the screen as he sang a few lyrics to his hit number one song before the concert details replaced his image. Cody made a mental note of the location and time, hardly surprised that the concert was this afternoon in downtown Boston.

"Trey Hannah, real popular singer with the girls," Code answered, giving Cody an inquiring look, "Why?"

"The world is full of irony my young self. Who would have thought he'd be hiding in plain sight?" Cody laughed, feeling a renewed hope fill him. Perhaps there was a chance to plan for the defense of the world after all.

* * *

**A/N:** This chapter is mostly a rewritten and improved version of one in the original draft of the story. The biggest difference we see is that Zack was not ambushed at the skate park and he's a bit more lively now since he doesn't have to deal with the whole possession thing. I improved Cody's talk with his mother by adding Lily to the mix and also including his plans. It's also nice to see that the twins are eager to learn how to fight and also the display of their close bond as brothers in the face of what is to come.

Now it looks like Cody has found something interesting. What could this singer Trey possibly mean to him? Well you won't find out next chapter because we'll finally see what happens to Jarran and Max in **Chapter Nine: "Enemy In Thy Midst"**


	11. Enemy In Thy Midst

**Chapter Nine**

**_"Enemy In Thy Midst"_**

Jarran Noh'Malkiri smiled to himself, this was all too easy. He had walked Max home and she had invited him into the apartment, an invitation that was readily accepted and then she began to tell her father what had happened. She left out the part about Jarran killing the Orc however, making it sound as if he had simply come running to her rescue by jumping her would be kidnappers and taking them to the ground. As the story wrapped up her father stood up, hugged her tightly and then kissed her on the forehead before releasing her.

"Thank you young man," Mr. Baker said as Max finished telling the tale and he came over to shake Jarran's hand, "If anything were to happen to my little girl, I don't know what I would do…"

"You're welcome sir," Jarran said politely, feeling a sudden twinge of uneasiness at this man's display of parental love for his daughter. He quickly brushed off the feeling, it was too distracting.

"I should go and call the police now," Mr. Baker said, releasing Jarran's hand and turning back to grab his phone.

"Dad, no, really I'm fine," Max protested stepping forward, "My hero here gave them what they deserved, we don't need the headache…" Her father looked like he wanted to report it anyway, but Max gave him her best 'the look' and he melted, making her promise not to walk home alone, even if it was just a couple of blocks without Barbara.

"Can you stay and talk?" Max asked after her father returned to his office, holding onto his cell phone as if he were going to call the police at the slightest sign of danger.

"Yes," Jarran answered and then followed her out onto the apartment's balcony. There wasn't much of a view, totally different from how Jarran's balcony overlooked the entire capital city of the Chaos Realm back at his bedroom in the Palace.

"So what is my hero's name if he doesn't mind me asking?"

"Jarran."

"That's a nice name. I'm Max, Max Baker," She said and Jarran had to struggle to appear as if this was new information having overheard her name earlier that afternoon, "You don't have a last name Jarran?"

"It's foreign, you wouldn't like it," Jarran lied, at a loss to come up with a fake name. He might not be known outside the Chaos Realm, but his father was the most powerful dark Realm Lord in existence and his name was well known. He didn't want to chance that Max had been in contact with the active Children of Light and learned the name 'Noh'Malkiri' from one of them. He had to maintain his cover for a little longer for he was sure that she would know the identity and location of the remaining two dormant Children, even if she didn't realize it.

"Oh…okay," Max warily accepted the explanation, then continued, "So, you said that thing was a Demon? Where did it come from? Why is it here?"

"Short and simple Max, I'm a Champion and I fight things like that all the time," Jarran said, which wasn't a total lie as he routinely tested himself against Greater Demons, "They come from a place called the Chaos Realm. It's like a whole other world that sits near Earth, but it is aligned to the darkness."

"Why did they come after me?"

"Because you're a Champion like me," Jarran worked hard to keep his facial expression in line with his cover story as Children of Light and Darkness were totally different even though they operated on similar principles, "Demons can sense you now along with other Champions, both good and bad, which is how I found you."

"Saying that I believe all of this, what do you plan to do now that you know about me?" Max asked hypothetically.

"I can help you, but first I have to ask if you know where the other two Champions are? They're in great danger and we've got to warn them."

"Those two men were asking me if I knew where the other two Children of Light were…"

"Children of Light, Champions of Earth, same thing."

"But I don't know where they are…" Max sighed, her shoulders sagging in defeat.

"Don't be upset," Jarran said, "I bet you do know who they are, you just don't realize it."

"How would I recognize them?" Max asked, her interest piqued.

"Well, if you are the Warden then that would make the other two Children of Light the White Knight and the Truth Seeker. Call it fate, but the Children of Light always seem to be drawn to each other. You were all born around the same time, so they would be the same age as you. Those two are always twin siblings and they are almost always male," Jarran explained in a rush, not caring if she didn't understand the names of the souls since the descriptions were far more important, "Does that help?"

"Wow…"

"Huh?" Jarran asked, slightly agitated. He could see that she had two people in mind, she was just a little shocked.

"You've just described Zack and Cody Martin, are they really in danger?"

"Yes, now more than ever after what happened to you today. The enemy is close, we need to warn them," Jarran said adding a touch of urgency to his voice.

"Yeah sure, they're probably sitting at home playing video games," Max agreed and together they went back into the house. Jarran waited for a minute while Max asked her father if he would drive them and five minutes later they were all getting into Mr. Baker's car.

_'Soon'_, Jarran thought, _'Soon I'll have found all of you and then it's all in Chiam's hands._' And maybe, just maybe his father would be proud of his work, Jarran thought happily.

* * *

Ten minutes later Mr. Baker pulled to a stop a few car lengths shy of the Tipton Hotel's main entrance. He told Max to call him when she was ready to leave and that he would be at the market around the corner picking up some groceries in the meantime. Jarran climbed out of the car feeling a little queasy, it had been his first time ever riding in such a thing and although it had been a fairly pleasant trip, his stomach seemed to disagree.

He looked up at the hotel towering high above him, marveling at the height of the buildings on this world. Jarran really hoped that he and Pandora could convince his father to leave most of the population of Earth alive so that their wide array of skills could be put to work for the Chaos Realm after they had taken over.

The scent of ozone abruptly filled Jarran's nostrils at the same time as his skin started tingling and radiating an intense wave of heat. Warning bells went off in his head as he sensed the approach of a Child of Light close to his own strength and he immediately distanced himself from the darkness as much as possible, hoping that it would be enough to go undetected. Jarran ducked out of sight behind several tall potted trees lining the entrance of the Tipton and glanced around with his eyes, careful not to make any quick movements of his head that would draw attention. Human eyes were excellent at detecting motion, especially in the peripheral vision and without knowing where the Child of Light was, Jarran didn't want to tip him off.

"What's wrong?" Max whispered, having silently followed his lead and taken cover behind him.

"The enemy is close…" Jarran replied softly, his eyes continuing to search.

Finally his senses zeroed in on the source of the light and Jarran watched a young man a few years his senior with short close cropped blond hair walk out of the front doors and head to the street. He stood on the curb for a moment and then made an exaggerated hand gesture to a vehicle approaching in the traffic. Jarran was careful to keep his head turned away from him so that Max didn't realize that he was watching the Child of Light in the possibility that she knew this particular one. Eventually a vehicle pulled up to the curb, the word 'TAXI' clearly written on its surface and the Child got into the car and it pulled away to rejoin the stream of traffic.

Jarran exhaled the breath he hadn't known he was holding and then told Max it was safe for them to proceed. _'That was way too close…'_ Jarran thought as his apprehension began to fade. Max then led the way into the Tipton, greeting a few of the employees at work before making her way over to a set of sealed metal doors. She pressed a button that had an 'up' arrow drawn on it and they waited for a moment before there was a dinging noise and one of the sets of doors opened. Jarran followed Max into the confined space and the doors shut, sealing them inside. Once again he didn't like the confined space, but it was the quickest means of travel he realized as the purpose of the room he was in became clear lifting them up into the building's upper floors.

As they traveled upward, Jarran's kept finding his eyes sliding sideways to look at the female Child of Light. He'd been aware of her attractiveness, though the effect her power had on him had dulled any interest he might have had in her before. Now though with both of them powered down, Jarran could appreciate Max's figure. She was slightly shorter than him, but her height was just perfect for her more stocky build. That wasn't to say she was big or anything, Max just looked more solid than most girls her age and actually had some meat on her bones. Jarran's eyes briefly got lost in her brown hair which she had pulled back into a ponytail, marveling at how glossy it was and he also caught a faint whiff of a fruit he couldn't identify coming from her.

"Like what you see?" Max asked as she caught him looking. Jarran felt his cheeks redden with embarrassment and he looked away.

"I apologize, I shouldn't have been staring," he said, genuinely sorry for his actions despite the fact that she was his sworn enemy.

"Men…apologizing for stupid reasons," Max said with a laugh, "You know a lot of women actually like it when guys check them out, it makes us feel very good about ourselves."

"Oh…"

"Besides, you're pretty handsome yourself mister," She added giving him a look that asked if he was available. Before he could respond, the elevator dinged again and its doors opened onto a quiet floor with a long hallway stretching in either direction before turning with the shape of the building.

"We'll continue this later," Max teased him, leading the way to a door with the number '2330' marked in black numbering on the gold painted plate attached to the door.

"Who is it?" a voice called out when Max knocked.

"It's Max and you two are so busted for skipping school today!" She chided them in a joking manner.

* * *

Code looked up from where he was packing his duffel bag to see Zack going to open the door for Max and followed him out into the living room. What was Max doing here? It's not like the twins had never skipped school before, it shouldn't be anything new to her. Zack opened the door and invited Max inside, then paused as he looked over the person she had brought with her.

"Oh sorry, this is Jarran, he saved me from a couple of creeps earlier," Max explained, gesturing to the teenage boy who stood slightly taller than Zack and had short close cropped white blond hair. In no time at all Carey Martin was thanking Jarran for his heroism while Zack was needlessly asking Max if she was alright. Code simply stood aloof, his eyes studying the newcomer. He was getting a strange mental vibe, as if a part of his brain was kicking and screaming that he should know this boy, but he couldn't make out what the other voice was trying to tell him.

It wasn't until Code spotted the thin black cord around his neck, just barely showing from underneath the collar of his shirt, and glanced up into Jarran's eyes that he felt a dawning sense of comprehension that meant his mind was about to work out the answer to this unknown equation and spit out the answer. Jarran wasn't even paying attention to what Carey was saying anymore. The newcomer's incredibly green eyes stared across the open space into Code's blue-green, widened in surprise for a brief moment and then narrowed at the same time the corners of his lips tugged upward in a slight smile. It was a triumphant look. Then it hit Code…

_"We rescued this boy from the rubble as we were running from some Demons, he was banged up pretty bad and completely unconscious," Cody was saying as he sipped at a glass of water Carey had offered him, "Lily tended to his wounds and we brought him with us as we escaped the city. I woke up later that night feeling dread creeping into every corner of my being along with a horribly sour aftertaste in my mouth. The air felt heavy, it was hard for me to breathe and I was covered in a cold sweat…"_

Even now Code felt an unnatural sense of terror fill him and he had to resist the urge to hyperventilate. He felt like he should go outside and get some fresh air or something, maybe even chew some gum to get rid of the bad aftertaste in his mouth.

_"You see, we had unknowingly rescued a Child of Darkness, Jarran Noh'Malkiri; the son of the Demon Lord who had launched the invasion of Earth. The things I was feeling that night were a reaction to Jarran's growing power as he regained consciousness."_

Panic…

_"Did he fight you?" Zack asked, totally enraptured by the story._

_"No, we saved his life so he left without fighting me," Cody answered._

_"I thought you said they were all totally evil and cruel?" Code had asked._

_"Most of them are yes, but I think Jarran was different back then because he was still young. That doesn't change the fact that he was the enemy that night and capable of giving me the fight of my life if he didn't outright kill me before I could do anything. He was loyal to his father and fellow Champions then."_

_"Was?" Zack wondered, his eyebrow arching in confusion though Code could see where this was leading._

_"Yeah, remember Jarran's name because we'll come back to him at the end of the story."_

Zack looked from Code to Jarran, sensing the same thing as his brother and realizing that something was wrong. Carey remained oblivious, but Max was also looking troubled.

_"Two years after we first met him, Jarran reappeared with grave news. He told us that our time line was going to destroy itself and that I would have to go back and set things right."_

_"Why the hell would he help you if he was one of them?" Zack asked._

_"Because Jarran had learned just how evil his father was. Once I was dead, and no more Children of Light were left to threaten his rule, Ashani was going to execute his son to eliminate any possible threat Jarran might one day pose to him."_

_"That's despicable! To do that to your own child!" Carey exclaimed in disgust. Cody nodded his head in agreement and continued…_

_"Eventually I came to trust him and returned to Boston where I hoped Arwin's time machine could take me back in time and undo all the damage…that's when all hell broke loose as Pandora and then later Ashani showed up to kill me."_

_"How did you survive?"_

_"I don't know what happened with Pandora, one minute she was about to kill me, the next I woke up face down on the ground and she's completely gone. Ashani came not long after, and I would have died then but Jarran made good on his promise and fought his father to buy me enough time to escape."_

So if this was the same Jarran from Cody's story, then they could trust him right? Then Code remembered the last part of the story and the warning that went with it.

_"Jarran paid for my escape with his life. He died a hero…"_

_"What a tragedy…" Carey murmured, shedding tears for the young enemy turned ally._

_"Just don't forget though, if we should encounter him when the invasion begins, he knows nothing of this. He is the enemy in this time line and will kill us a soon as look at us. Jarran is one of them." Cody said sadly, but forcefully to impart his meaning. He looked up at them all with sorrowful eyes to make sure they had gotten his point._

Jarran could see that Code somehow recognized him, as absurdly as it must be to the Child of Darkness and he visibly stiffened. From what Cody had told them, this guy was very powerful for his age and in the end had went blow for blow with his extremely powerful father. Code had no illusions that Jarran could tear all of them apart and was also well aware of the fact that he also stood between all of them and the only way out. He had to get a warning to his future self…but how?

Cody had told them they still had several days before the invasion began and the Children of Darkness came for them.

He'd been wrong.

They were already here.

* * *

**A/N:** Jarran has infiltrated among the Children of Light, though after a rough start where he almost ran into Cody it doesn't look like he'll be able to get away with it. Code has recognized him. What happens next is anyone's guess.

Will Jarran interrogate them, will he learn what Zack and Code know about him or will the twins be able to get a warning out in time to Cody? Stay tuned for **Chapter Ten: "Undercover"**


	12. Undercover

**Chapter Ten**

**_"Undercover"_**

"Whoa!" Zack cried in alarm as he dove out of the way an instant before Kasen's blade would have impaled him. He hit the ground and rolled, feeling a brief wave of vertigo as the world went upside down for a second and then came back up on his feet expecting to find the exposed backside of his trainer. This wasn't the case though as Kasen was standing facing Zack, his sword above and behind his head. He gave Kasen a questioning glance and then the sword arced downward.

"Too slow!" Zack blinked as lightning crackled outward from the hand he had raised to shield himself and then Fortitude was there catching the edge of Kasen's blade against its flat side. The older man pushed down closer to Fortitude's tip to gain leverage with more strength than Zack could handle with a one handed grip and he suddenly found his left hand reaching up to place itself against the underside of his own sword along the flat edge, careful to keep his thumb tucked in to avoid getting sheared off.

Zack gritted his teeth as he pushed back, but Kasen soon proved to be ridiculously strong and forced him down onto one knee. "Use your head brat! It's not always about raw strength!" Kasen hissed. If it wasn't a battle of physical strength, then what was it about? _'Brains over brawn,' _Zack suddenly heard the memory of an offhand comment Cody had made long ago while they had been watching wrestling.

Wait a second, Kasen was pushing down with the edge of his blade, which was probably no thicker than a dime against Zack's wide flat edge with a small groove running down the center which wasn't a very stable platform. Tilting his sword in either direction to use Kasen's leverage against him should work, but which way to go. The easier way would be to let the other sword slide off down the tip of Fortitude, but with Zack kneeling down he realized that it could prove to be fatal as Kasen could recover quicker and lash out again. The other choice was more dangerous, bringing his opponent's sword down onto Fortitude's cross guard, locking it there and continuing the battle of strength on even footing. All told it took Zack a mere two seconds to realize all of this and he made his decision.

Making sure his head was clear, Zack slackened the amount of strength he was using in his right arm while giving everything he had to his left. The result was an instant hum of metal smoothly gliding against metal and then a clanging noise as the cross guard caught Kasen's sword. Zack grinned triumphantly that the tactic had worked, but then frowned upon catching the disapproving look his trainer gave him.

"The right idea, just executed too slowly. Now back up a little and rotate your wrist a little to let my sword break away, then once it's clear you need to instantly assume a low guard to keep me from splitting your midsection in half."

"Erm…" Zack coughed, confused.

"Yeah?"

"What's a low guard?" Kasen smacked his free hand again his face and groaned.

"Guess I should have taught you the basics first…"

"You think?" Zack asked incredulously.

* * *

The handful of tense seconds that passed as Jarran and Code stared at each other seemed to last for an eternity. Fortunately Carey Martin broke the awkward and potentially deadly silence with an offer of refreshments which Max and Jarran accepted graciously. Before his mother could get them, Code offered to do it himself and made his way into the kitchen managing to catch and hold Zack's eye at the same time. His twin sensed something was wrong as had seen the look Code had given the stranger, so now he was watching him to see what it was that Code needed him to do.

Code opened the fridge and pulled out a two liter of Coke and set it on the counter. When Jarran became distracted by Carey asking him a few questions, Code made a 'talking' gesture by opening and closing his hand quickly as if it were a mouth _"Keep him talking"_ and then after pulling several cups out of the cabinet made a 'can't see me!' gesture passing his hand up and down in front of his face in a quick movement before beginning to pour the soda. Zack nodded his understanding and then moved to block Jarran's line of sight with Code and joined in on the conversation.

With no one the wiser, Code palmed Carey's cell phone off the counter where it was sitting, flipped it open and scrolled through her contacts with one hand while he poured soda with the other. This turned out to be a bad idea as he spilled it on the counter. Cursing his luck, Code ignored the mess and continued doing what he was doing.

Finally he settled on the number for his own phone which Cody had taken with him just in case he was needed and hit a sub-menu to bring up a text window. Code hurriedly typed out his distress message, _'jarran is here'._

"Everything ok honey?" Carey asked, realizing how long it was taking him. Code looked up as he twisted the cap back on the two liter bottle.

"Yeah, anyone want ice?" Code asked, pulling Carey's phone across the counter with his left hand and sliding it into his pocket as he held up the bottle in his other hand.

"Sure!" Zack exclaimed, sensing the need to play along with his brother as Code tried thinking of ways to buy them enough time for Cody to hurry back and save them.

* * *

Insanity…

That was the best word Cody could come up with to describe the outdoor concert taking place in downtown Boston featuring several prominent bands and singers. Performing at that very moment was none other than the person he'd come here to see. It was none other than the nation's current pop sensation Trey Hannah singing the lyrics to his number one song.

Security was pretty tight, but Cody managed to slip through it with the aid of his power and emplaced himself amongst a group of privileged fans who had backstage passes. Watching from behind now, Cody swore that Trey kept glancing to his right to look at him hiding just off stage masking the movements as a part of his performance.

As he stood there and watched, Cody realized that something was tugging at his sixth sense, but he wasn't quite sure what it was. Clearly it wasn't Trey's music as pop definitely hadn't been Cody's thing before the invasion, though it was quite catchy, but it was something coming from this boy.

The tempo of the music picked up and Trey sang faster as he worked towards the final repeat of the chorus. Thousands of fans were screaming in anticipation as the music built up to the climax of the song and then Trey launched into his final lyrics putting all of his emotion into them. Cody's head jerked to the right slightly as if he'd been slapped. There was no doubt about it now. The infinitesimal amount of light energy that had suddenly begun to radiate from the famous pop singer cleared away any lingering doubts that he had.

The crowd went wild as Trey stretched his last few words out, pushing his soft voice to the limit, and then began to cheer as he finish and lowered his head briefly to let the spotlights reflect off his golden brown hair before whipping it back out of his face and smiling at his fans. Cheeks flushed and a thin layer of sweat covering his face, Trey took a moment to catch his breath before addressing his fans.

"Thank you…" Trey said, pausing as the girls nearest to the front of the stage nearly drowned out his amplified voice with their screams. He flashed an amused grin at them before continuing, "Thank you everyone for coming out tonight! It's been wonderful here in Boston!" Cody waited impatiently as the pop singer continued to thank his fans, debunk a few rumors about him that had been circling around the internet and then finished up by giving a shout outs to several children whom he'd visited at hospitals in the area recovering from injuries and illnesses.

"Good night Boston," Trey finished with a bow before exiting the stage. Cody was sure that, were it possible, the volume of noise from the fans would have literally raised the roof. A man in a black business suit came forward and intercepted the star before he could reach Cody, handed him a towel and a bottle of water and began talking to him.

"You did great tonight Trey, now we just have to…" the man trailed off as Trey held up a hand in a silencing gesture.

"Can we talk about this later? I'd like to spend some time with my friend here," Trey said in as polite a tone as he could. The man, presumably the singer's manager, looked over Cody briefly before shrugging and heading off to talk to several other people backstage. The two teenagers stared at each other for a moment and then Cody spoke first.

"Taschen."

"Cody Martin."

"What are you doing here?" Cody asked, gesturing at the now empty stage.

"This is my life and my dream man."

"Singing?"

"You look different," Taschen stated matter of factly, effectively changing the subject.

"That's because I'm from the future…" Cody trailed off and then gave the Child of Light a hard stare, "What do you mean I look different?"

"I've watched over you and your brother since you were born. It was my fault that you two died sixteen years ago, I'm not letting it happen again."

"Clearly we have a lot to discuss…is there some place we can talk in private?"

"Yeah, follow me," Taschen answered, leading Cody into his nearby dressing room and locking the door behind them. Both of them remained standing and Taschen made an odd facial expression.

"What?"

"Casius was right. You really are from the future," Taschen said, cocking his head to one side like a dog trying to figure out what it was seeing or hearing, "I'm sensing the duality, so weird…"

"Sensing the what?"

" Two Truth Seekers, it's weird especially as one is dormant while the other is nearly on the same level as me."

"Oh, I see… So you've spoken to Casius?"

"Yeah, he told me everything you told him right before he had to leave and go do something important."

"I hope it's something to help us fight the Chaos Realm."

"No doubt, especially with Chiam running loose on Earth."

"WHAT? CHIAM'S HERE? NOW?" Cody thundered, his panic rising as the worry for his family's safety increased tenfold. Taschen winced and made a 'lower the volume' gesture with his hand.

"He arrived last night. Dante and I chased him for hours, but he got away in the end. He was leading us too far away from Boston, so I decided to come back to keep an eye on things just in case it was all a ruse for something else. Dante's still out looking for him."

"Who is Dante?"

"He's another Champion of Earth. We fight as a team just like you and Zack are supposed to."

"Except Zack died in my future world."

"I'm sorry about that. Your story infuriates me…I don't see how that could have happened, but rest assured we'll do everything we can to prevent it this time around. If Casius will fight with us, you can pair up with him since his normal partner, the Warden, is dormant and he'll need a defensive Child of the Light backing him up."

"Is there some reason why he wouldn't fight?"

"It's a long story for another day, but yes, there's always the possibility he won't fight with us. I hope he will though."

"Doesn't sound like much of a Realm Lord to me if he doesn't fight to protect it…but anyway," Cody paused, forestalling any further conversation on that point, "Why do I keep hearing about 'defensive' Children of Light?"

"There are six Children of Light on Earth and we are paired into three fighting teams comprised of one offensive and one defensive Child. Those with white light are better at attacking while those with gold light are better at defending."

"Zack, Dante and Casius use white light and they are respectively partnered with those of us who use golden light. You fight with Zack, I fight with Dante and Max with Casius."

"Whoa, hold the phone! Max? You mean Maxine Baker?"

"I do."

"There's no way she…"

"You'd be surprised," Taschen laughed, raising an eyebrow as he suddenly looked off to his right.

"What's wrong?"

"They've all awakened…When did that happen?" Taschen wondered, closing his eyes and pressing the fingertips of his right hand to his temple, "Zack, Max and the other Cody are drawing power from the light for the first time in their lives, but that could only mean…"

Cody jumped slightly as his pocket started vibrating and reached a hand into it to retrieve the offending device. He'd forgotten all about Code's phone which he had borrowed just in case there was an emergency. Flipping it open, he read off the text message that had been sent from his mother's phone in disbelief, '_jarran is here'_.

For about half of a minute Cody stood frozen in shock as the world around him seemed to slow to a crawl. It had only been a few days since the young Child of Darkness had valiantly defended Cody from his own father and bought the desperate Child of Light enough time to escape the future. Jarran had turned his back on his own people and the Realm where he had grown up in order to survive and ended up paying for it with his life. Now, two years into the past Jarran was alive and well, but what was he doing here?

Wait a minute! Taschen had said that Chiam was on Earth and had arrived only yesterday. Now Jarran was confirmed being on Earth, but Taschen hadn't mentioned him. Why? Maybe it was because he hadn't seen the young Child of Darkness?

Chiam had assassinated Zack, probably Max and had tried to get Cody as well, but how had he known where to find them, especially if he was on the run from this other Child of Light Dante? Now Jarran was here on Earth, in close proximity to Cody's family and likely the cause of awakening their power…

Cody came to a grim conclusion.

Jarran had been the one to sell them all out.

"Cody?" Taschen asked in concern, gently shaking his shoulder to snap him out of it.

"The Children of Darkness have found my family! I've gotta go," Cody exclaimed, reaching out for the light and pulling it inside of him. The cosmic power surged through his body, strengthening it and preparing it for intense combat. Golden light erupted around him as his aura appeared, the translucent shield of light giving him added protection from energy attacks.

Beside Cody Taschen was powering up as well, though his light power rose even higher. The other boy was briefly covered in golden light that wrapped tightly around his body before the intensity of it diminished leaving thick plates of bright red armor trimmed in gold on top of a formfitting suit made of black cloth in place of the clothes he had been wearing on stage. Cody gave him an inquiring look.

"I'm coming with you."

"Let's get going then!" Cody said as he started making his way to the door.

"Cody, I can get us there faster," Taschen said, placing his armored hand on Cody's shoulder, "Just hold onto your lunch."

It was the same feeling as before. Once again energy rushed into his body and Cody couldn't push back against the sudden surge of power as it rapidly consumed him. The room seemed to tilt sideways, spin and then fall away. Cody had the strangest sensation that he was being chopped into little pieces and he screamed as the world around him was washed out in a blinding explosion of light.

* * *

**A/N: **Zack's training is coming along nicely and now Cody has met up with Taschen who is indeed hiding in plain sight living as a hit young pop singer alter ego. If you don't know who the real world inspiration is for Taschen's new identity (minus the slight accent) then shame on you!

And so Jarran's cover is blown and the cavalry is on its way. Gotta love the teamwork between the twins keeping things under control! Find out what happens next in **Chapter Eleven: "Evasive Maneuvers"**.

**P.S.** The new avatar is Hope from FFXIII who happens to bear an uncanny resemblance to Jarran with some minor photoshopping touches added to it by yours truly. Enjoy! As an odd coincidence, when Jarran breaks down 'Defiance' into two weapons, the other blade is called 'Hope'.


	13. Evasive Maneuvers

**Chapter Eleven**

**_"Evasive Maneuvers"_**

**_September 3rd_**

"Ahhhh! Dammit I hate that!" Cody exclaimed as he and Taschen materialized in the hallway on the Tipton's twenty third floor not ten feet from the door to his family's suite. His skin was tingling rather painfully and he felt like his body had just been stitched back together.

"You get used to it…"

* * *

The moment he felt the arrival of the Children of Light in the Tipton, Jarran was on the move. He rapidly powered up and sent a lance of negative energy into the window overlooking the street below, the glass shattered and exploded inward from the sudden change in air pressure. His aura deflected the flying shards as he raced towards the window and dove through it. As Jarran passed through the damaged window frame a puff of thick black smoke slammed into him and left his black as night plate armor in place of the stolen clothing.

Jarran let gravity pull him downward, increasing his speed and glanced over his shoulder while throwing out his arm on the opposite side he'd turned his head to balance the drag it created. The two Children of Light were right behind him, the boy Taschen who he'd seen the night before in the warehouse resplendent in his red and gold armor followed by the young man that had left the Tipton as Jarran had arrived. Both of them were surrounded by a golden aura, indicating to him that they were both defensive Champions and together were more than a match for him.

A lance of golden light flashed by Jarran so close that he felt the heat of the energy through his armor. He flipped over so that his back was to the street below as they continued falling straight down and returned fire forcing the Children of Light to spread themselves apart. How had they found him so quickly? More beams of light came towards him, but Jarran evaded them and fired twice as many lances of negative energy back at them, momentarily lighting up the entire side of the Tipton as the windows reflected the neon red light.

The ground was getting too close for comfort now and Jarran rolled back over and willed the darkness to provide him sufficient lift to fly straight out over the streets and intersections below. Taschen was hot on his tail, but it seemed that he'd lost the other one for the moment as the young man struggled with flying and eventually gave it up, landing clumsily on the street.

"One down, one to go," Jarran muttered in annoyance as he dodged another round of light attacks by cutting a corner sharply and veering off onto a new street forty feet above it. His overall mission had been a success; he'd located the dormant Children of Light and had awakened them. Now all he needed to do was link up with Chiam and together they would both take them out. It's not that Jarran couldn't have done it himself; it was just that his father had ordered him to maintain his cover as long as possible and let Chiam do the fighting until the rest of the Champions of Chaos arrived.

* * *

"I've got this, go check on them!" Taschen yelled as he rapidly sped away in pursuit of Jarran seeing that Cody's ability to fly wasn't fully developed yet and he couldn't maintain the speed or altitude of the chase. Without argument, Cody slowed his rate of descent and landed clumsily on a sidewalk about a block from the Tipton. Ignoring all the stares and cries of alarm he received, Cody took off sprinting for the hotel to check on his family. If anything had happened to them…he'd never forgive himself for not being there for them when they had needed him the most.

* * *

Sparks of light erupted between Zack and Kasen as their swords violently slammed together and lightning raced across the blades. Even as they impacted, Zack was beginning to pull away knowing that Kasen's greater strength would allow the older White Knight to disarm him if he wasn't careful as had been proven several times already. Zack dodged out of the way of a follow up attack, feeling like he was moving slowly and awkwardly compared to Kasen's confident flowing movements.

"What are you doing?" Kasen demanded, catching Zack on the ankle with the flat of his blade as he feigned a lunging attack, forcing the younger man to hop backward on his good leg.

"Yeowch!" Zack exclaimed, stopping to stand on one foot while letting the injured leg hang in the air. He looked up and glared at his mentor, "I don't know, you tell me!"

"You're not supposed to fight like that, that's how defensive Champions battle others, not offensive ones like you!"

"I don't even know what that means and I'm getting sick of this shit! Casius pulled me from my home while I died, I didn't know about any of this Champion or Children of Light or White Knight stuff. I was a regular guy a few days ago and now you expect me to be a pro!" Zack ranted, angry at the constant belittling of his limited fighting abilities. He experimentally put the foot of his injured leg back on the ground and started putting some weight on it.

"You have less than three days now to train and one day to rest before Earth is invaded!" Kasen yelled back, clearly fed up with Zack's attitude.

"Then train me, stop bitching at me!" Zack paused as he reigned in his emotions and continued in a calmer voice, "I'm only doing this because I want to protect my brother and mother… What else do you want from me?" Sensing that perhaps he had gone too far by yelling, Kasen answered in a more calm and sincere voice.

"I just don't want to see the enemy chew you up and spit you back out like a common mortal."

"Then train me; and this time, tell me what the hell you want me to do!"

"As you wish; attack me."

* * *

Half an hour later Kasen finally called an end to their long day of training. After spending countless hours dodging beams of light, fighting demons and engaging in close quarters fighting with his mentor, Zack was completely worn out and he fell to his knees to relieve his feet from carrying his weight. He was exhausted, both mentally and physically, his body ached all over while his mind had gone numb. Perhaps it was because of this unusual condition that he experienced what happened next.

"Good work Zack, good work…" Kasen whispered, clearly tired from the long day of training him.

Zack didn't answer however as he held up his hands and stared at them. They were covered in blood, bright red blood that had been freshly spilled and had washed over his hands and down his arms. He was feeling equally disgusted by what he had been forced to do at the same time that there was also an intense wave of hatred radiating within him that was slowly being replaced by feral satisfaction at the sight of the blood on his hands.

He then heard Cody's voice in his head, though he had trouble identifying it at first because of how angry he sounded. _'Even if it takes me the rest of my life, I will hunt the rest of your kind down without mercy until I draw my last breath!" _Then an image of a man with light brown hair took shape in Zack's mind and he saw the stranger's brown eyes widen in surprise and disbelief for a brief moment before the life left his eyes forever.

"Don't lose yourself to bloodlust brother, end this now…" Zack whispered, knowing that he was somehow reliving a horrible event that his twin had experienced. He couldn't explain how he knew it, he just did.

Zack's power suddenly surged to new heights as a storm of Cody's anguished emotions coursed through him, brought on by the memory of having to kill another human being. Kasen watched on in awe as brilliant white light surrounded his student and wrapped snugly against his body. The brilliant intensity of the light slowly decreased as it took shape, momentarily leaving a very dirty and bruised Zack encased in a suit of thin yet durable pearly white plate armor.

Without warning Zack screamed in anguish and then fell forward onto his face completely unconscious. The armor faded away as quickly as it had appeared and the young man lay still on the ground. Kasen walked over to him and picked Zack up, uncertain about what had provoked the boy into unlocking his armor, a major milestone for a Child of Light, but extremely pleased with his progress nonetheless.

"We'll get a good meal in you and then you can rest until morning Zack. You've come so far in such a short time, but there is still much for you to learn before you're ready."

* * *

"He got away," Taschen exclaimed, disgusted with the turn of events as he arrived back at the Martin's suite an hour later. Night had fallen outside and he was reluctant to blunder around in the dark while the Child of Darkness could easily slip past him and cause trouble elsewhere.

With Casius off in the Haven Realm on some secret mission that he wouldn't disclose any information about and Dante still tracking Chiam, Taschen felt that his place was with Future Cody and the three newly awakened Children of Light. Cody was firmly convinced that Jarran had been sent to Earth to locate the Martin twins and Max and then report back to Chiam who would return to Boston at a later time and assassinate them, depriving Earth of half its Champions in a single blow.

"We have to leave now," Cody said to Taschen without preamble and he nodded his agreement.

"The safest place is Dante's house, it's a fair distance from here," Taschen offered, remembering that there were several Paladins living in his friend's neighborhood who were kept a vigilant eye out for any Demon activity.

"We need to get moving then, before they can come back and follow us," Cody agreed, addressing his family before turning to look at Max, "Max, you need to come as well, they'll be after you too.

"You'd better come explain that to my father then. I think he's had enough of me in danger for one day…"

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry for the shortness. Chapter's 12 and 14 are being royal pains and affecting everything around them.

Looks like Jarran made a clean getaway. Also, does this mean Zack has permanently attained his Level Three powers? O_o


	14. New Horizons

**Chapter Twelve**

**_"New Horizons"_**

**September 4th**

Jarran groaned as consciousness returned to him and he lifted his hand from where it lay beside him to shield his eyes from the bright light assaulting his eyes. Not only was he being blinded by the ungodly powerful light, his face was uncomfortably warm from the heat it was putting off. What the heck was causing it?

Then his mind woke up all the way and Jarran sat up in an instant, squinting around the bedroom that he was in looking around for any sign of danger. Were the Children of Light here? How had they found him? Better yet, where exactly was 'here'?

"Ugh…" Jarran moaned, clutching the side of his head with his hand as it exploded in pain. Fortunately for him there was no one in the room with him and his sixth sense was calm, unable to pick up the slightest trace of someone channeling the light. So, if there were no Children of Light around, then what was the source of that infernal brightness?

Opening his eyes wider, he looked out the window towards the source of the light and had to look away as it became even more intense when he spotted the source. Earth was a Light Realm, but this was freaking ridiculous! Jarran turned his back on the window and sat on the bed with his legs hanging off of the side, blinking rapidly to clear the bright spots that had been etched into his retina.

"What the hell is that?" He wondered, gently rubbing his eyes. The sound of someone approaching instantly set him on his guard and he looked up as the door opened, admitting a woman dressed in the typical clothing Jarran had seen the people of Earth wearing the day before. Relieved that it was only one of the long term spies, Clara was the name she used, he relaxed.

"They call it the sun Prince Jarran," Clara explained as she handed him a glass of ice cold water and a couple of white capsules, "Earth isn't a subterranean world like the Chaos Realm and this planet's star shines light down on it for half of the day."

"Oh…Pandora told me to expect this, I just didn't think it would be so bright," Jarran said, recalling his briefing on what to expect on this alien world, "What are those?" He asked, indicating the two pills.

"They call them 'Ibuprofen' and they are surprisingly effective at relieving headaches if you swallow them my Prince."

"Then I will gladly take them," Jarran said, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his head as he swallowed the pills and then drained the entire glass of water, "What the hell happened after I came here?"

After successfully eluding Taschen by increasing the distance between them and breaking visual contact, Jarran had powered down completely and blended into the local population. He'd consulted a map he'd been given and located the nearest 'safe house' where he would spend the night and figure out what to do next. He couldn't remember anything past meeting Clara and then having a meal called 'pizza' delivered to her residence.

"Oh, I'm so sorry about that my Prince, you had told me you wanted to sample the local drinks for pleasure and…" Clara hesitated, worried that he might take offense at the explanation. Jarran waved her to continue, "I'd forgotten that their beverages are more powerful than our own and after you had a few, you passed out."

"So I was drunk then," Jarran laughed, smiling to let her know that he was amused at the prospect of being totally intoxicated. He'd had wines before at dinner in the Chaos Realm, but apparently they paled in strength compared to Earth's drinks.

"I'm afraid so," Clara agreed.

"Hmm, it's too bright for my liking in here. Is there someplace darker in this house?" Jarran asked as he stood up experimentally. Aside from a mild sensation of vertigo and the hangover headache he felt fine.

"Yes, of course Prince Jarran, my house is yours. I also took the liberty of getting you some fresh clothing if you would like to shower. Breakfast will be ready soon as well if you're hungry."

"Just as long as there is no alcohol this time," Jarran quipped, pleased with this woman's hospitality and respect, "A shower sounds good too." Clara picked up the folded clothing she had laid out for him and took it into the bathroom where she set it on the counter for him before leaving him to resume preparing breakfast.

Jarran stripped off his 'skater' clothing and briefly glanced at his reflection in the mirror. His skin was pale, though that was to be expected living in a subterranean world his entire life which was lit only by large luminescent crystals set into the rock ceiling high above the 'ground' that cast the Realm in a soft blue hue. Besides that, he was fairly well built with shoulders that promised to be broad like his father's one day, strong arms and a cut upper body courtesy of his intense Champion training and workout sessions with Pandora. His eyes were then drawn to the jade green soul stone suspended over his breastbone by a thin black cord that loosely circled around his neck.

"Why are you glowing so brightly today?" Jarran wondered aloud as he picked it up and held it between his right finger and thumb, examining it closely. The rare gem contained an echo of his mother's soul and it always had a dull green glow about it, though it would grow brighter when he was upset. Now though it was brighter than it had even been before. He wondered what it meant since he didn't feel upset at the moment.

Letting it fall back onto his chest and stepping into the shower, Jarran quickly figured out how to turn the water on and was soon standing under a warm spray of water. His mind began to wander as he washed himself with the soap and washcloth Clara had provided him to the events of the day prior.

Trouble had started almost the moment he arrived at the Tipton Hotel were two of the dormant Children of Light lived. Before he could even get inside an awakened Child had left the hotel, nearly discovering Jarran in the process and had then proceeded to get into a passing vehicle and leave the premises. After a long ride up the elevator which he'd found himself admiring one of his sworn enemies, Maxine Baker, he had entered the residence where the other two dormant Children had been packing up their stuff in preparation to leave for a safer location as he'd only just learned before being forced to flee.

"Maxine Baker, Zack Martin and Cody Martin," Jarran said softly, testing out their names with his voice. But something had been off from the moment he'd arrived and introduced himself. One of the twin boys, Cody, had acted as if he'd been slapped upon hearing Jarran's name. Then they had stared at each other for a tense moment before Carey Martin, the twin's mother, interrupted with the offer of refreshments.

It was almost as though Cody recognized him, but that wasn't possible. No one outside of the Chaos Realm knew about Jarran's existence as Ashani and the other Champions had kept it a closely guarded secret. This anonymity made him the best person for the job of infiltrating and locating the dormant Children of Light on Earth as no one would be able to recognize him, not even the older Champions of Earth who had fought the other Champions of Chaos many times before.

"And yet this Cody Martin knew me somehow, or knew of my name at least," Jarran surmised aloud as he rinsed off the soap on his body and began scrubbing his short white blond hair, careful to avoid getting any of the stinging liquid in his eyes. He hated getting soap in his eyes ever since Pandora had bathed him as a child and chuckled at his overly exaggerated wails of pain.

There was no other explanation for how the cavalry, Taschen and the other teen, had arrived so soon after Jarran's arrival and stormed into the suite fully powered up. Cody knew who he was and had somehow gotten warning out to the other Children of Light. Something about this mission was off. Things just weren't adding up and this strange development necessitated further investigation as Pandora had trained him to eliminate the unknowns to a problem before committing himself to solving it. In this case 'solving the problem' meant killing his enemies.

Unfortunately he wouldn't have the chance to pursue this matter further since now that he had located the Children of Light, Chiam would be quick to go after them and then report back to Ashani. After that the invasion would be launched and Jarran would have to return to the Chaos Realm and miss out on all the action under the pretense of being there to 'defend the realm from any aggressors' while Ashani and his most powerful Champions were away.

There was no way that Jarran was going to let that happen so soon however. He was enjoying his time away from home, the freedom of being able to come and go as he pleased and the strangeness of this new world. No one, least of all Chiam, expected Jarran to find all of the Children of Light in just one day.

Jarran turned the water off, quickly dried himself and changed into the fresh clothing left on the counter. He'd already made up his mind about what he was going to do next. When Chiam showed up again, Jarran would lie about his progress to him leaving the young Child of Darkness free to pursue the loose end that was Cody Martin seeing as Chiam would destroy any chance they had at figuring out what was going on in his haste to earn favor with the Demon Lord.

"Sorry cousin, we're doing things my way this time."

* * *

**A/N:** A little time inside Jarran's head doesn't hurt! The whole sun thing in the beginning is to illustrate that the Chaos Realm is subterranean, and I think I went back before publishing the earlier chapters and made sure it was a cloudy day on Earth for Jarran's first foray into our world. I threw in the hangover part just for a laugh (showing that he subscribes to all work and no fun makes a dull day belief).

So, Jarran dwells on the situation and wonders how Code seemed to recognize him. He is also baffled as to why his soul stone is glowing brighter than normal even though he isn't upset. Is it reacting to his emotions or something else?

Now the stage is set, with Jarran intending to delay Chiam, for some fateful meetings that you've all been dying to see. There's only a few more chapters left before the clock begins running out and Earth begins slipping into darkness. Be prepared!

Zack and Kasen are up next in **Chapter Thirteen: "Haven's Thunder"** in an epic showdown between teacher and student!

* On a more personal note, I won't be around for the next week or so. We're about 4 hours away from moving out of our long term housing and into temporary transient housing in preparation for leaving Iraq. We should be getting home around June 18th-19th. I'll post updates in my Chaos Realm forum if I have time after updating the family! Cya soon ~ Kul


	15. Haven's Thunder

**Chapter Thirteen**

**_"Haven's Thunder"_**

**September 4th**

With an abrupt suddenness, the tiered seats made of stone in the northern section of the massive coliseum detonated as a beam of powerful white light slammed into them with unrelenting force. Chunks of stone were hurled into the air as the shockwave of over pressurized air momentarily deafened Zachary Martin. Barely registering the destruction that he had wrought upon the giant structure while attempting to hit his mentor, Zack turned to fend off Kasen as the older warrior came at him from behind with startling speed.

Today was going to be different Zack had promised himself before the sparring began. Today was the day that he would kick Kasen's ass and rub it in his face. Yes, that would go a long way towards healing Zack's bruised ego as he proved that he wasn't a weakling boy anymore.

Kasen's blade sparked off Fortitude's ridiculously sharp edge and Zack pushed forward, using his smaller and lighter build to his advantage to get in under his mentor's defenses, lock his sword against his armored chest with Fortitude and head butt Kasen in the jaw. They both instantly broke apart as Kasen reeled from the sharp pain in his jaw and Zack stumbled around dazed by the contact to the head.

Clearly pissed off now Kasen growled and charged Zack who had only just now come back to his senses. Their swords met again and Zack side stepped, letting Kasen's momentum carry him forward. Kasen spun halfway around to launch a bolt of white light at Zack before he could take advantage from behind and the younger warrior slapped it away with his armored hand and returned fire.

Zack steeled himself for a change, shifting the unfamiliar weight of his armor along with that of his body onto his right foot and bent his knee slightly in preparation. Kasen rolled to avoid Zack's previous attack and came up in a sweeping motion that would have taken his legs out from under him had he not already launched himself into the air. Their armor plating screeched as teacher and student collided and went down together into the dirt, rolling several times before coming to a stop.

Ending up on his back, Zack instinctively grabbed Kasen's wrists with both hands and struggled to push the heaver man off of him while also preventing him from trying anything. Both of them grunted in exertion, but Zack was fueled by the same anger he had felt the night prior when he'd relived Cody's memories somehow and would not allow himself to be easily beaten today.

"Give it up Zack!" Kasen yelled as he gained leverage with his legs and threw Zack sideways, breaking his grip. He skidded in the dry dirt upon impact, kicking up a cloud of dust as he went and finally came to a stop.

"Never," Zack hissed as he got back on his feet and summoned Fortitude back into his hand. He was breathing heavily from exertion during their brief grappling on the ground and licked his cracked lower lip tasting the coppery flavor of his own blood, but Zack had never felt more energized and alive in his life. He was starting to like this.

Acting on impulse, Zack gripped Fortitude with both hands for a second and then pulled them in opposite directions. His sword flared and then separated into two falchions, each roughly two thirds the length his long sword had been. Kasen arched an eyebrow.

Zack charged again leading off with his left blade in a feint and catching Kasen's sword with his right hand weapon leaving the left one free to slice across the armor protecting his mentor's abdominal region. Just before the attack connected, Zack turned his blade so that the flat side harmlessly slapped against Kasen's armor.

"Get off me!" Kasen cursed, kicking Zack in the stomach hard sending him flying backward. Zack gasped from the pain radiating through his midsection from the brutal kick, relieved that his armor had held, and immediately went on the defensive, "What you think you're the only one who can do that?"

As Kasen spoke he launched himself at Zack with twin falchions as well and they engaged in a bewildering high speed game of swordplay. Kasen's personal experience won out over Zack's newfound skill and he got in a good slash that skipped across Zack's cheek leaving a thin line of red. The younger warrior spun away as fire raced across the side of his injured face and released one of his falchions like a throwing knife as he came back around facing Kasen.

Dodging Zack's flying blade, Kasen jumped back and soared away through the air briefly, greatly increasing the distance between them. Zack's remaining falchion reformed itself into the long sword he had become extremely confident with as Kasen began doing something Zack hadn't seen him do before.

Haven's White Knight dismissed his own weapons and both hands glowed brightly as light energy collected and coalesced in them. At the same time this was happening, a translucent bubble of white light formed around him in an impromptu shield while two sphere's of light formed on either side of him.

"What the hell?" Zack stammered, not sure what was about to happen, but knowing that he wasn't going to like it one bit.

"I don't like to lose kid," Kasen replied loudly over the humming noise his summoned power was emitting. Then all hell broke loose…

From Kasen's hands, beams of white light continually ripped into the ground around Zack like Star Trek phaser beams as he nimbly dodged and rolled out of their way. Then, adding to the difficulty of dodging the two beams which were crisscrossing and trying to trap him the spheres of light all fired at him, but they weren't tracking his movements. Instead the spheres all spread out like a shotgun blast giving Kasen a wider cone of destruction. It was bearable until more spheres of light formed and went into rapid fire mode.

"Holy shit!" Zack cursed, weaving out of the path of the demented laser beams from hell and jumping over several spheres of light as they slammed into the ground in rapid succession. He couldn't go on like this. If there was anything Zack had learned from Kasen it was that he, as an offensive Champion, lived by the creed that 'the best defense is a good offense' when placed in a situation like this. As he was coming to this realization, one of Kasen's beams slammed into his chest and several spheres collided with his legs. Zack was punched backward and flipped over multiple times by the impacts of Kasen's energy attacks.

Pain rippled all across his body as some of the energy made it through his aura and charred his own pearly white armor, burning the flesh beneath it. The fire slackened up as Kasen realized he might have seriously hurt Zack, but this soon proved to be a mistake.

A switch deep down was flipped and Zack felt all of his anger and pain vanish in an instant, replaced by a cold feeling of detachment. Fortitude reformed itself once more, this time into a long and heavy great sword. Zack jumped into the air and then rocketed forward towards Kasen like Superman except that he was holding the two handed sword before him as if his entire body was a spear and the sword was the tip.

Kasen's beams were split down the middle by Fortitude and his spheres completely overshot Zack, occasionally brushing against his aura but causing no further damage to his armor. His mentor juked left to get out of the way and Zack halted in midair, spinning in a half circle so that Fortitude's blade stopped a hair from Kasen's throat.

"Gotcha." There was a loud banging noise as the sonic boom created by Zack's rapid movement finally caught up to him, adding the period to the single word he'd spoken in triumph.

"So it would seem," Kasen said, grinning as he gently pushed Zack's blade away from his throat, "Good work." Zack felt the cold detachment fade away, the pain of his injuries returning to full force. The pain however was nothing compared to his feeling of elation at finally beating his mentor. There was something funny about Kasen's easy acceptance of having been beaten. Zack would have been humiliated at being bested by someone who only started training two days ago.

"I'm missing something…" Zack muttered, following Kasen's lead and letting go of his power.

"Um…well yes you are," Kasen agreed.

"Well? What is it?"

"I just simulated an average Level Three Champion for you, and you barely beat me."

"Simulated?" Zack didn't like the word 'simulated'.

"I'm a fully maxed Level Four Champion Zack."

"In other words you were holding back?" Zack accused him angrily, wondering how he was supposed to get the best training from Kasen if he was constantly holding back and coddling him.

"Zack…No Earth Champion has ever reached Level Four except for Casius. I could have killed you at my maximum power."

"This Level Four sounds pretty badass, is there a Five?"

"Yes, Realm Lords are the only ones who can attain Level Five. Casius and Athena are Fives as is Demon Lord Ashani."

"Well, since I don't see a promotion coming up any time soon, can you teach me to be a Level Four?

"Err, it's not something I can teach. It's just something that happens when you're ready for it."

"Oh…" Zack said, disappointed that it was out of his reach for the time being, "I wish I could get to Four though, if we have to face this dude Ashani…"

"Not just Ashani," Kasen interrupted, "If I'm guessing right, Pandora, Deimos and Chiam will be there for sure in addition to Ashani. Pandora is a maxed Four like me, her father Deimos is a low Four and her younger brother Chiam is a maxed Three. They might even be bringing more of their Champions of Chaos, and if my memory serves me well, their remaining ones are all Level Three's as well."

"How in the hell are we supposed to stop all of that?" Zack demanded, his worry increasing.

"Earth will have Casius, Dante, Taschen, Cody and yourself. That gives you a Level Five, a fighting pair of maxed out Three's, then there's you a low Three and Cody who is a maxed Two on the cusp of being a low Three as well."

"Those numbers don't sound promising Kasen…"

"If you stick to your fighting pairs you have a chance to win. When you fight with your partner, each of you is only expending half of the energy that a Champion of Chaos is, allowing you to take on a more powerful opponent or two equally powerful opponents together." Kasen explained and Zack felt his hopes rise, "Taschen will protect Dante as he tries to kill the enemy Champions just as Cody will protect you while you dish out the damage."

"Are the defensive Champions really that good?" Zack wondered, not sure how a fight with his brother from the future would play out. Kasen gave him an all knowing grin.

"You have no idea."

"So…when do I start training for that?"

"Tomorrow, Elissa will partner with you and together you two will try to beat me." Zack grinned in anticipation and then reached a hand up to his cut cheek as it throbbed painfully, "In the meantime I think we're done for the day. We'll get you bandaged up and then I'll give you a class on just how to fight with a defensive Champion."

* * *

**A/N:** Zack is definitely improving! During this training bout he is already more powerful than Future Cody (when not berserk that is)! The biggest indicator of reaching Level Three as a Champion is the ability to summon their armor (though there's more goodies besides that).

Now our young hero knows the odds he faces and he will soon begin training to directly combat the Champions of Chaos with Elissa acting as his defensive partner.

/sigh Chapter Fourteen: "Newbies" is up next and I still haven't finished it. Can't wait to get it over with so I can move on to the good stuff!

On another note, I'm getting ready to make the first leg of my trip home in a couple hours. Should be arriving in the States in the wee hours of the 21st.


	16. Newbies

**_A/N: _**_This Chapter was co-written with Tiger. The first half is my part and the second half was written by him with some minor content edits done by me to make the story flow together. We hope you enjoy!_

**Chapter Fourteen**

**"Newbies"**

**{Kulmanari}**

**_September 4th_**

"Wow, this Dante guy really has some money," Zack commented as he and his twin brother followed Cody throughout the massive residence. Taschen had brought them to the outskirts of Boston to an upper class neighborhood filled with mansions that were home to the wealthy the night before. Dante owned a modest sized home here and it had a tall stone wall encircling the entirety of his property providing a high degree of privacy.

The primary advantage to Dante's residence was the fact that he had constructed a large area underneath his mansion which Taschen had explained to them was capable of absorbing light energy attacks and blocking outsiders from sensing anyone using their powers inside. Due to the presence of Chiam in the world and the startling appearance of Jarran at the Tipton the afternoon before, this place became the perfect training grounds. Max brought up the rear of the group along with Taschen who closed the heavy door behind him and ensured that the seal was good. They could now practice to their heart's content with no one outside the wiser.

After glancing around the padded upside down bowl shaped chamber that they were standing in, Cody came to the realization that he wasn't sure how or even where to begin. He looked to Taschen to start them off but it was Zack who spoke first.

"So, how do we tap into the light?"

"First, I think I should tell you a little bit about your powers before you start trying to run without being able to walk first," Taschen said as he joined the group in the middle of the arena which vaguely resembled the shape of a bowl turned upside down small arena. He sat down cross legged on the firm padding that made up the floor and motioned for them to join him.

"Long ago there existed a single source of energy called Purity and there was nothing else in the universe. For reasons still unknown to this day, Purity inexplicably tore itself in half long ago. In this explosion of great power, the universe was born."

"The big bang theory?" Code wondered aloud and Taschen nodded.

"Care to guess what the two halves of Purity became?"

"Light and Darkness," Cody whispered, amazed that the two opposing energies had once been one in the same.

"Correct. Now, as the universe took shape over the course of billions of years and simple life began to evolve, the Light and Darkness wove themselves into the fabric of our reality and took a great interest in the life that roamed the worlds that had been created by the split of Purity."

"What was so special about it?" Zack wondered.

"The two energies have some awareness and after billions of years, they knew only their vast empty existence. Life intrigued them and so the Light and Darkness laid claim to dozens of worlds, pulled the primate ancestors of humanity from one of the planets, scattered them everywhere and nudged their evolution along towards the same direction across all worlds.

"When the primates evolved into some semblance of the human race we know today, the Light and Darkness realized that something was powering the bodies of early man. It was discovered that each human body born into the world had a soul join it to provide the person with a consciousness and self awareness. It was the desire of the two great cosmic forces to experience this advanced form of life and so, across every world they had claimed, the Light and Darkness spawned souls of their own that joined the body at birth and allowed them to experience life."

"That's deep…" Zack whistled.

"How do you know all of this?" Max asked, speaking up for the first time.

"The knowledge is contained within our souls. If you explore yourself deeply enough, you begin to learn the secrets of how the Children of Light came to exist. I haven't figured it all out myself, but Casius taught me all of this when I was a young lad." Taschen winced as he spoke the uncommon word with an accent. Cody gave him a questioning look and the boy shrugged, "Old habits die hard."

"You said we are all immortal?" Taschen nodded, "Just how old are you guys anyway?"

"I was born during the middle ages in northern England, Dante is actually from pre-American Revolution Boston believe it or not and Casius…I'm not quite sure of."

"Why don't you look older?" Zack asked and Cody found himself wondering the same thing having seen all of the Champions of Chaos looking so young even though they had supposedly been around for a minute.

"We never physically age beyond our mid twenties and once you reach that age, you can control your appearance and change it gradually in either direction. It has no real bearing on your strength or fighting ability," Taschen explained, gesturing to his present form.

"Why are you…"

"Because it fits my current life as a young hit pop singer," Taschen said as if it were the most obvious explanation, "And it helps in these dark times that I can influence large numbers of youths."

"Sure you'd have more fun if you looked older though right?"

"Don't even go there Zack. If you knew about some of the things I've done in my life, it would blow your mind."

"Ahem…boys?" Max interrupted and they all looked at her questioningly, "Training?" Taschen's cheeks reddened slightly with embarrassment at losing track of things.

"Our power lays dormant until it is awakened by the proximity of true Darkness in the form of a Demon or a Champion. This is done so because power corrupts and there's no sense in having great power if you don't know what it's for."

"I felt…weird the other day when Jarran showed up at our suite," Code said and Cody found himself remembering his first experience with the rush of power that filled him when the Demons came for him and Zack.

"Though Jarran was using his own power to find you three, he inadvertently helped us by awakening all of you," Cody explained.

"There are five tiers of power, or levels as they're more commonly called and each of them has a low, middle and high end as you gain experience and control. The Realm Lords are not always, but can easily attain, Level Five and the Champions all vary between Levels One and Three. Only the best of them can reach Level Four and only a powerful event in their lives can trigger the rise to that level."

"Dante and I are Level Three Champions at the high end of the scale and Cody here is almost strong enough to be a low Level Three, making him a high end Level Two."

"So, the focus of our training will be to get you three to become strong Level Ones. We don't have time for more unfortunately. I'll also work with Cody as well and teach him how to fight with an offensive based Child of Light." Taschen received several confused looks at that last statement.

"Err…meaning what exactly?" Cody wondered, realizing that he was missing something.

"Oh, sorry... The Children of Light fight best in pairs. Three of us are defensive based and three are offensive based. Cody, myself and Max have thicker armor, bigger and stronger shields, more powerful defensive abilities and we can also heal wounds. Zack, Dante and Casius are much faster than us, can change their weapons to better suit the engagement, hit much harder and their energy attacks are more powerful. When you perform your intended role, you expend far less power than the Children of Darkness and you're also better at said role than they are."

"Interesting…" Cody whispered, quickly reliving all of the major battles he'd experienced in his life, "So that's why I struggled with Chiam and large numbers of Demons."

"Yes," Taschen agreed, "On your own, you beat them by wearing them down before going on the offense. If you simply go all out from the start, you'll wear yourself out much quicker and leave yourself open to attack. In a fighting pair, your partner would be dishing out the damage while you protect them Cody."

"And who would my partner be?" Cody asked, already guessing the answer.

"Your brother." Zack briefly glanced from Cody and then onto Code, "Dante is mine and Max fights with Casius. Under normal circumstances anyway…but we can change partners on the fly, it's not hard."

"Alright! Enough talking. Let's do this," Zack said as he sprung to his feet. Everyone else stood as well.

"The Light surrounds us just out of sight and when you tap into it, it flows through you and into our reality," Taschen said, waving his hand slowly past his face as a demonstration. The air between his fingers wavered like the heat rising from pavement on a hot day and static electricity arced across his palm before his aura sprang into existence.

"Close your eyes, blank you mind of any thoughts and search within yourselves until you find the Light. Don't worry, it won't be hard to find especially if you remember how you felt when Jarran was around you," Taschen coached them. Cody closed his eyes as well, concentrated briefly and remembered the feeling of dread that always had whenever a Champion of Chaos was around him. The mental image of a river of golden light appeared for a brief moment before it rapidly expanded.

Energy rushed into him from head to toe, filling him with the familiar strength and lightweight feeling that he always felt when channeling the Light. Cody pulled in as much as he dared to handle and built a mental dam to keep the flow of light at a trickle now that he was fully powered up. When he opened his eyes, he found himself surrounded by his golden aura.

"Just like that," Taschen complimented Cody's display after it became apparent that the trio of new warriors were struggling to harness their powers, "We'll just have to do it the hard way with you three…"

"Um…" Zack started to protest.

"Follow me."

* * *

**{Tiger}**

"Where are we going?" Code asked as Taschen led them down a never ending flight of stairs that had branched off the small arena above.

"You'll see."

"Wow, this is incredible," Zack said as they reached the end of the staircase and gazed around wondering how it was possible for something like this to exist under the house. The place was a giant underground cave, with several torches giving some light to the nearly black caves. He was just about to join the others in bombarding Taschen with questions when a terrifying roar filled the air.

"What was that?" both Zack and Code yelled.

"A Troll," Cody answered with a wary glance in the direction of the noise.

"Correct. Trolls are lesser demons and we use them for training purposes… " Cody thought back to the ones he had fought during the invasion. One of them nearly killed Lily when Cody was distracted fighting a group of Orcs. At the time, it took everything Cody had to bring down one of the fierce demons. "You three are going to kill it," Taschen instructed to younger champions.

"But how?" the three of them responded in unison.

"You must draw upon the power of light."

"That doesn't help much," Zack complained.

"If what you told us is true though, then the souls of the Children are already awake inside of us, which means we know how to fight already," Code mused. Cody couldn't help but smile at his younger self. The way he had been able to keep calm enough to analyze this situation amazed him.

"Let's use this power to kick its butt then!" Zack declared.

"Sounds good to me," Max added.

"I can't argue with that," Code agreed and the three of them made their way down the dimly illuminated tunnel.

"You think they'll be okay?" Cody asked.

"They'll be fine," Taschen reassured him, "The troll shouldn't be a problem for three children, and if they are in danger I'll step in before things get too bad."

"Okay," Cody nodded. He felt uneasy at abandoning those he came to protect like this, but he knew when the demons came again, he wouldn't be there to protect them from everything, and they needed all the power they could get if they were to change the future.

* * *

The growl got louder as the three teens made their way further into the cave. Zack had grabbed one of the torches to illuminate the dark path in front of them.

"Where is it?" Zack asked.

"Not much farther," Code answered. He wasn't exactly sure how, but he could feel the presence of the demon. He guessed that it was the trickle of dark energy that flowed through the demon reacting with his light.

"There!" Max exclaimed pointing forward. They couldn't make out much if its appearance, but standing in the shadow cast by the torchlight deeper in the caves they could just barely make out the shape of a creature who stood over 10 feet tall and wielded a giant club. Upon seeing the three the Troll swung its weapon at them forcing them to dive to the ground.

However, they weren't all fast enough to escape the attack and the younger twin was caught square in the chest by the blunt weapon, sending him flying into the wall. Code bounced off the smooth rock and fell in a heap to the cave floor. He groaned as he tried to rise off the ground before giving up and lying still. Max hurried to his side to check on him.

"Code!" Zack yelled in a panic. At that point, something inside of him snapped. He charged at the demon, all logical thought process leaving him. He didn't care what happened to him; he just had to protect his brother from this monster. As he ran at the mighty demon, he felt the power of light flow through his body. It filled him with an unexplainable energy and confidence. Looking on at the older twin, Max saw a white aura surround him which illuminated the room in a brilliant glow. Zack didn't care though; all he cared about was stopping this beast.

Instinctively he brought forth Fortitude and swung it at the Troll who deflected it with his club. The creature drew its weapon back for another strike but Max ran at it her soul bound blade in her hand and sliced it across the demons leg sending it to one knee. Zack gazed at Max, awed by not only her strength but also her beauty. The unearthly golden glow emanating from her definitely suited her.

The creature took advantage of Zack's distraction though and swung its club at him. Zack closed his eyes preparing for the impact, but to his surprise it never came. Upon opening his eyes, he saw Max standing between him and the monster, her kite shield blocking the monster's attack.

"Let's take him down," Max instructed as she shoved the blunt weapon aside and feinted a charge to confuse the Demon which lunged for her while Zack powered forward into its now unprotected left flank. Max deflected the club once again, spun with the momentum and her sword came around to slice the Troll's hand off at the same time Zack ran his own weapon through the beast's stomach. The Troll roared in pain, its remaining hand reaching down in a futile attempt to remove Zack's sword and then it fell heavily onto its knees.

"Not bad," Taschen said walking into the room. The beast growled angrily at the newcomer, but was permanently silenced when the Champion fired a lance of golden light into it.

"Code?" Zack inquired as he spun around to see if his twin was alright.

"I'm ok…" Code said as Cody, whose golden aura overpowered those of everyone else in the room, helped him to his feet.

"The light makes your body tougher than you ever could have imagined. Impacts which would kill any normal person merely knock the breath out of you and leave you with a little bruise," Cody explained, catching the disbelieving look in Zack's eyes.

"Not to mention the defensive Champions can heal their own injuries over time and the injuries of other people," Taschen added, then asked, "So, what did you think of that little test?"

"That guy was a piece of cake," Zack declared confidently now that he was relieved his brother was fine.

"How about something a little harder then," Taschen said summoning his own blade.

Code couldn't even register what just happened. One minute Taschen was standing there asking about the trial he had just put them all through and the next Zack had a sword millimeters away from his neck. Code couldn't move; he couldn't breathe; he couldn't even think seeing such a deadly weapon pressed against the soft exposed flesh of his brother's neck.

"What are you doing?" Zack nearly yelled, his eyes almost going cross to see the reflective sliver blade leading to the hilt where Taschen's right hand held it steady.

The younger twin didn't know what to do, but he knew that he had to do something to protect Zack so he let his instincts take over. The strange power he had felt a day earlier rushed into him now and filled him with extreme confidence. A golden glow surrounded his body and a beautiful silver bladed sword with a golden cross guard and brown leather grip appeared in his hand, almost molding itself to fit into his white knuckle grip. He remembered the stories Cody told them along with showing him Excalibur, but all that information was pushed to the back of his mind. The only thought consuming him was saving Zack.

He swung his blade down at Taschen who released Zack from his grip to parry the sudden attack. "Not bad," the guardian said before pushing Code's sword away sending the Truth Seeker flying back several feet.

"You used him! Used him to unleash my power," Code accused angrily.

"You learn fast young Truth Seeker," Taschen said. "The power of the light is awoken by the Children's desire to protect those they love. If I had attacked you like that, Zack would have responded the same."

Even after all he saw and felt, Code still couldn't believe that he was actually in control of this power inside him. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined he and his brother being protectors of the planet and entrusted with the power of the light. It went against everything his logical mind believed in. Even so, he couldn't ignore what he saw in front of him.

Code closed his eyes and pictured in his mind the stories his older self told him about Zack's death. He let the hatred for the demons build in his body until something inside of him snapped. No longer was he afraid of the demons, in fact he'd never felt stronger.

"Let's do this Zack."

"You don't have to tell me twice," he said walking up beside Code.

"The Children of Darkness will be powerful, strong enough to beat our strength, but if we can combine our powers we'll have the advantage." Code said remembering what Taschen had told them earlier.

"So we have to work together then," Zack said with a smirk before turning to his best friend and twin. "Let's try operation Black Widow."

Code stared at his brother for a brief second before it occurred to him what he meant. "I like the way you think."

"It's just crazy enough to work," Max said with the same smile as the older twin.

Zack charged at Taschen and swung his blade at the other Champion wildly. Infused with the power of light, Taschen had trouble deflecting Zack's powerful swings. The White Knight was always known for having the most raw power of the Children, and even in an early state Zack was proving this to be true. Even while Taschen deflected the attacks, he kept on eye on Code, knowing that Zack's offense was only part of their plan. He continued keeping one eye on Code and Max while nimbly deflecting Zack's blows.

After a few seconds, Code made his move and ran to the Guardian's side swinging his blade at him. Taschen skillfully deflected his opponents' attacks, but finding himself between the two of them made launching a counter attack difficult. "Not bad," the Guardian admitted before jumping back to escape the blades. He never saw Max behind him. Even so, he sensed her presence and turned just in time, barley stopping her blade.

"Now," Zack instructed and his twin charged at Taschen now that he had his back turned. The Guardian skillfully deflected the blades of the two swordsmen slashing at him. Code pinned Taschen's blade to the ground, which left him wide open for Zack's attack. The older twin gripped his blade like a javelin and launched it at the guardian.

Taschen didn't have time to force his blade free from Code's sword. Instead he summoned his shield in his other hand which allowed him to harmlessly deflect Zack's weapon. He then spun, freeing his blade from Code before striking the young Truth Seeker in the back with the flat of his weapon sending the younger twin sprawling to the ground. "Impressive," the Guardian noted, "You know each other well enough to work together in the heat of the battle as if it was second nature."

"It still wasn't enough though, if it was a real fight my brother would have died."

"That's why we have to get stronger," Cody said walking over from the sidelines where he had been observing the fight. "We all do."

"If what Cody told us is true, we don't have much time," Taschen said, "The next few days will be hard, but I'll do everything I can to make sure you are ready for the coming fight."

"I can't lose everything again," Cody said somberly.

"We can't let mom and dad and everybody else down," Code added.

"And anyone who messes with me gets their butt kicked," Zack said with a smirk.

"I wouldn't mind giving Jarran a few kicks to the face either," Max agreed with a devilish smile that suggested she might not be totally serious.

* * *

**A/N: **And thus Max and the twins are on their way to getting stronger…but they're almost out of time. Will they be able to get strong enough to help repel the impending invasion in time? Stay tuned for a rare glimpse into Jarran's past and the big surprise to be unveiled at last in** Chapter 15: "Better Late Than Never"**

**P/S: **Prepare your Kleenexes! Chapter 15 is the end of the 'good' Chapters and from there on out we spiral down into darkness.**  
**

Sorry it took so long to put out new content. I've have 15-19 done for some time, but I never got around to finishing Chapter 14 which made writing grind to a halt. Between the release of Chapter 13 and 14 I relocated from Iraq to Kansas, got resettled in my new home, had some fun and drove home to FL to spend some time with my family. Things should be settling down now and I'm hoping I'll be able to get back to writing a lot with all the good ideas I've come up with lately.

Again, give Tiger thanks for bailing me out on this Chapter (which turned out so good I don't know why I didn't want to write it in the first place)! Till next time folks.


	17. Better Late Than Never

**Chapter Fifteen**

**_"Better Late Than Never"_**

**_September 4th_**

Jarran stopped walking along the sidewalk and turned to look up at the Tipton Hotel, raising his hand to shield his eyes from the glare of sunlight reflected in the building's windows. He spotted the window that he had jumped through to escape from the Children of Light the evening prior, the billowing motion of the curtains flapping around the jagged edges of glass drawing his eye. Returning his gaze to street level Jarran saw that there was a vehicle parked in front of the hotel where no other vehicles were permitted to stay longer than a few moments to drop off people and luggage marked with the word, 'Police' on the side of it. Underneath that in smaller letters the word 'Law Enforcement' was written. He understood the meaning of the latter, if not the former.

So the authorities were already investigating the incident. Jarran wasn't surprised as he doubted that people flying through the air firing the cosmic energies of light and darkness at each other was a common sight on Earth. Still, if by some rare chance he hadn't driven Max and the twins into hiding by his actions yesterday, then the presence of these 'Police' and most likely the two Children of Light who had chased him off the night before would make questioning Cody Martin all but impossible.

Jarran was absolutely convinced, now more than ever, that Cody knew him. From the strange glances to the look of dawning realization and then the timely arrival of Taschen and the other young man… A big piece of the puzzle was missing and Jarran wasn't content to just let it go overlooked like his cousin Chiam. He had lied about his progress to the older Champion and bought himself more time to figure out this mystery.

Then, as if to confirm his suspicions that something was awry, a female voice addressed him from beside and slightly behind him.

"Jarran? Jarran Noh'Malkiri is that you?" Startled, he spun to face the young woman.

"Excuse me?" He asked, his voice pitched higher than he'd intended, giving away his surprise at being addressed on a busy city street across from the building where he had found the Martin twins. The young woman who had addressed him was barely a few feet away, peering curiously at him. She had shoulder length blond hair pulled back into a ponytail and a rugged look about her. This woman wasn't your typical Earth female Jarran quickly surmised; she was a fighter.

"I'd know that face anywhere!" She exclaimed and leapt forward to embrace him before he could make a move to stop her. Jarran stared down at the top of her golden haired head in dismay, his arms hanging uselessly at his side as he stood there awkwardly with the arms of this stranger wrapped around him and her head resting against his chest, "You protected my Cody!"

If it were possible, the metaphorical light bulb above his head clicked on. This woman knew him, she knew Cody and she might just have the missing piece of the puzzle.

"Do I know you?" He asked, raising his arms to push her back slightly and get a better look at her.

"No, but you will," she said with a sly grin, "I'm Lily."

"What do you mean?" Jarran asked bluntly.

"I'm sorry," Lily apologized, pulling away from him, "Let's go some place where we can sit and talk."

"Alright," Jarran agreed, intrigued by what this young woman might have to offer. He let her lead him a block away from the Tipton off of the main roads to an outdoor café wary of any sign that might signal a trap. So far his mental radar was silent, but that didn't mean the Children of Light weren't still in the area.

After seating themselves at a table, Lily ordered drinks for the both of them. She'd hesitated over what to get Jarran before ordering him something called a 'fruit smoothie'.

"It's so awkward being in the past." She commented, looking at their surroundings.

"Are you implying that you're from the future?" Jarran wondered dubiously. He was well aware of the fact that the only person who could affect the flow of time was the Realm Lord of Time and even his power was limited, especially on worlds under the protection of someone as strong as Casius. If this girl was wasting his time…

"I am, and I want to tell you about the person you became two years after Earth fell to your father."

"I'll entertain your story," Jarran said skeptically, not wishing to be rude to someone who had purchased him a beverage. Speaking of which… An employee from the café brought his drink over and set it down in front of him. It was a slushy pink liquid inside a clear cup with a straw sticking up at the top.

"In the future you told me some things known only to you or the other Champions of Chaos, just in case I ran into you here and now."

"Such as?" Jarran asked, raising an eyebrow. He gave the smoothie an experimental taste and let the ice cold slush slide across his tongue. Whatever it was made of, it was incredibly sweet and Jarran found himself taking a bigger gulp.

"You've never tasted a strawberry before huh?" Lily asked rhetorically, though he chose to answer.

"No, but it is very good. So what did 'I' tell you?"

"Your uncle, Deimos, taught you how to use Demon Speech."

_Blanking out stray thoughts, he tapped into the flow of darkness and used its power to reach out with his mind, trying to make contact with the Demons of the Chaos Realm. Surprisingly it was Deimos who had taught him how to do this, not Pandora, and he zeroed in on the one creature in particular that he was looking for. While most Demons were hard to control, with powerful instinctive minds that overwhelmed Jarran's limited ability, Icarus was a different story. The young dragon had hatched into the world and instantly bonded with the first creature that it had seen, which had been an overly excited eight year old Jarran, and from that day Deimos had made sure that the young Immortal properly raised the dragon until it was able to take care of itself. He said that a powerful relationship like that would help him learn to control Demons as all Champions of the Chaos Realm had to learn how to do, in addition to teaching him many other aspects of life to include responsibility._

"Your cousin, Chiam, witnessed the first time you took another human life."

_Jarran spun around as a man's voice yelled out in agonizing pain and caught sight of his elder cousin's free hand clamped tightly to the wrist of a disheveled man who was wielding a wickedly curved knife. It had been meant for Jarran no doubt. Twisting the man's arm around with his super human strength, Chiam forced the would be assassin to drop the knife and then threw him down onto the ground._

_ "Scum," Chiam spat at the man, and then said to Jarran, "He would kill you, given the opportunity. Pay him in kind."_

_ "Chiam?" Jarran asked in an attempt to clarify his cousin's meaning. He wasn't sure that he was ready to do what was being asked of him._

_ "Summon your blade and pay him in kind."_

_ Jarran reached out with his mind and harnessed the darkness, letting its power flood into his body. It was an amazing experience as he felt the immense cosmic power heighten his senses and enhance his physical attributes. Next he concentrated on the image of his own sword, which was almost identical to Chiam's and was rewarded by the sight of dark smoke appearing out of thin air around his right arm. It slithered forward, caressing the flesh of Jarran's forearm until it reached his hand where it reached outward into thin air, condensed and reformed itself into a menacing looking sword._

_ He hesitated as he angled the weapon to stab downward, momentarily paralyzed by uncertainty. Jarran had previously injured others in mock combat, but never before had he taken a life; especially not the life of a defenseless foe._

_ "Kill him before he kills you," Chiam hissed, seeing the boy's hesitation, before stepping away behind Jarran. The fallen man looked into Jarran's eyes and seemed to sense his unwillingness to kill and took advantage of it, reaching for his fallen knife. Apparently the man held no such reservations when it came to killing, especially not when it was a 'demon child'. Unfortunately for him, Jarran reacted faster than he could have ever anticipated and plunged the dark metal sword in the chest of the hapless mortal._

_ The man gasped in shock and then moaned in pain as blood flowed freely from the wound outward in a circular patter__n__ staining his tattered shirt. Jarran pulled the blade away, noticing the blood that dripped off of the tip of the dark weapon and then watched as the man died. Though he was __disturbed by what he had done, he couldn't help but be slightly fascinated by the sight of his first victim writhing in agony. _

_ "Very good," Chiam complimented, resting a hand on the boy's shoulder hoping to convey a sense of pride, "We must be going now, leave him to suffer."_

Your other cousin, Pandora, taught you how to Shadow Step and you have a large horizontal scar right here," Lily reached across the small table and tapped his left shoulder which was fully covered by his shirt, "From where your father hit you with his sword the last time he tested your strength."

_In the blink of an eye Ashani took advantage of his son's weakened condition and ruthlessly slammed Dominance into Jarran's sword tearing it from his grasp. On the return swing the tip of Ashani's weapon grazed Jarran's right forearm. Jerking back from the sudden explosion of pain he nearly succeeded in avoiding a follow up attack which bit into his left shoulder, parting flesh and muscle. Yelping in pain Jarran stumbled backward and went down hard, sliding several inches across the dew laden grass, his blood turning the ground beneath him red._

"HOW?" Jarran demanded as he stood. He was beyond angry that this woman sat before him casually retelling some of the more personal experiences of his life. "How do you know all of that?"

"Because you told me."

"Right, I told you in the future…" He made up his mind, "I'm not buying any of this trickery. Your people can't manipulate time any more than mine. Thank you for the drink."

Jarran turned away and began walking back towards the Tipton. He would do some reconnaissance there before he headed back to Clara's safe house and work on a new plan to find the Children of Light. There had to be some clue as to where they had gone. He had to move quickly before the situation spun completely out of his control which would mean his mission would end in failure.

"Wait, Jarran, please!" Lily called, running up alongside him, "This isn't how I'd planned to tell you everything…" He paused on the street corner, the Tipton now visible merely a block away and glared at her.

"If you must waste my time, do it quickly."

"Look, the invasion happens in a few days. All of the Children of Light are killed except Cody who escapes with me. We found you buried in the rubble of a destroyed building and nursed you back to health. When you woke up, we learned who and what you were and after explaining that we'd saved your life, you let me and Cody go without incident."

"Two years later you come find us and ask us for our help. You tell us that our time line is ending and that we'll all die if we don't do something about it. We travel back to Boston where Cody said there was a time machine and he uses it to come back here to try and prevent the invasion."

"Uh huh," Jarran said, intrigued by the short story, but still skeptical due to the holes in it, "Except that the other Champions and my father would have never let him live long enough for him to get that far. Nor would I have let Cody live that long…"

"Taschen severely wounded Ashani before he died, you did nothing because you owed Cody your life, Pandora caught up with us but she let us go by way of thanking Cody for protecting the person who was like a son to her and when Chiam caught up with us Cody killed him."

"Like hell he did," Jarran countered, seeing no way the weakling boy he'd just met the day before could beat such a powerful Champion.

"And yet it happened, and two years later Pandora continually failed to find Cody because she wanted to protect you. If she had found Cody and killed him, your father would have killed you to prevent you from becoming a threat to him once all of the Children of Light were dead and gone and posed no further danger to him."

"That's a lie!" Jarran exclaimed, though now he was less sure about it. His father was certainly capable of doing something like that.

"I don't know exactly what happened in the final moments, I was buried under some rubble of a collapsed wall, but when I went to where the time machine was I saw Ashani lying on his side bleeding out across from your dead body. He was just staring at you and had one hand resting on your cheek and he kept whispering, 'I'm sorry Marissa'." Lily finished explaining, her voice dropping to a hushed whisper. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she turned to embrace him again. Jarran let her do this, too unsettled to resist.

"You protected my Cody from your father. Because of you, we have a second chance. You're a hero." Lily fell silent after that.

"I…I don't know if I can believe you Lily," Jarran said, unsure of what he really believed. This whole episode with the Martin twins recognizing him and now Lily appearing to tell him intimate details about his personal life and a possible future… It was all too much to take in.

"I don't want you to die again Jarran. Please, just talk to my Cody, I know in my heart that he's here and that he's already warned his family. He'll want to warn you about your father just as I have."

Jarran's mind went into overdrive all of a sudden, assembling the pieces of the puzzle based partly on what Lily had told him, assuming that he accepted her words as fact and partly on his own experiences. If this 'Future Cody' had come back to the past, then the first thing he would have done would be to warn his family. Assuming that was true, that was how the present Martin twins had recognized him. Then there was the mystery of the unknown Child of Light who had nearly discovered him outside the Tipton Hotel and later given chase with Taschen. He hadn't given much thought to that young man, but now…

There were six Children of Light alive on the Earth. Jarran had seen Taschen and Dante in the warehouse with Chiam. Then he had met Max, Zack and Cody. That only left Casius, Earth's Realm Lord and judging by the fact that the unknown Child of Light hadn't been strong enough to maintain pursuit of Jarran when he'd fled the Tipton, it couldn't be Casius. Could this unknown person be the Cody from the future Lily had told him about?

"I need some time to think," Jarran muttered, pushing himself away from Lily and looking towards the Tipton.

"Okay, thank you Jarran," Lily said, "I'm going to go see if Cody is with his family for now."

"He's not there, that's what all this mess is about," Jarran replied, indicating the Police cars parked outside the hotel and the small crowd peering up at the shattered window high above.

"What do you mean?" She asked, following his gaze upward.

Jarran walked away without answering.

* * *

**A/N:** SURPRISE! Lily made it out of the future alive! Now she's back in the past intent on helping to save the world. While attempting to locate Cody, she inadvertently runs into Jarran and plants the seed of doubt in his mind that will hopefully set him straight and push him onto the path of becoming the hero he was in the future. Also, through Lily's prompting we get to see some flashbacks of Jarran's earlier years which I hope help readers understand the conflicting forces of Ashani and Chiam's cruelty while also showing the positive influences of Pandora and his Uncle Deimos on a kind hearted young boy brought up in a world that knows only hatred, greed and respects nothing other than the force of arms.

Events are coming to a head and they're all on a collision course that they can't avoid. Zack is pushing himself hard on Haven while Cody and the present twins are training with Taschen, but combined with the other Children of Light will Earth have the strength necessary to beat back the coming invasion?

Stay tuned for the beginning of the spiral down into darkness in **Chapter Sixteen: "Repeating History"**

**P.S.** Yes, I do realize the irony of Jarran's dragon being named Icarus. It's a fond throwback to the Greek myth and Gohan's pet in Dragonball Z. And I realize you can't really repeat history if said history is from a future timeline that hasn't happened yet in the current setting… And I realize…oh shut up! Just enjoy the story!

Catcha next time.


	18. Inescapable Fate

**Chapter Sixteen**

**_"Inescapable Fate"_**

**_September 4th  
_**

After the intense training session with the others, Zack had taken a quick shower, grabbed a bite to eat and passed out in the empty bedroom he'd claimed the night prior. Now as dusk approached, he sat up and stretched muscles that promised to be extremely sore tomorrow. The power nap he'd taken left him feeling refreshed, but the mansion's stuffiness was already getting to him.

Sliding out of bed and slipping his socks and shoes on, Zack quietly made his way downstairs to avoid disturbing the others who were similarly napping as he had been. He heard his mother's voice coming from the dining room and peeked his head around the open door.

His mother and Cody were sitting at the large table snacking on some vegetables and dip while they watched the news and occasionally made comments about what was being shown. Zack watched the T.V. as it replayed the incident at the Tipton from yesterday, showing the destroyed window that Jarran had fled through and then some low quality footage of the airborne chase through the city streets taken by camera phones.

"Hi honey, feeling better?" Carey asked as she noticed Zack standing in the doorway.

"Yeah."

"Do you want anything from the kitchen?" She asked, getting up to throw away the paper plate she'd been using.

"No, thank you," Zack replied, "I just wanted to take a walk." Carey glanced at Cody who had remained silent throughout the entire conversation questioningly.

"Taschen said this neighborhood has a lot of Paladins living in it that are keeping an eye on us, so it should be pretty safe. I wouldn't say no to a walk either," Cody chimed in.

"Sounds good man."

"Okay, just be careful," Carey replied and then gave Zack a quick kiss on the cheek, "I'm gonna go check on Max and Code."

* * *

The cool and crisp air was a refreshing change from the stillness of Dante's house and Cody found the breeze invigorating. Shadows on the ground stretched for incredible distances as the trailing edge of the sun dropped below the horizon giving way to the dim gray-blue light of dusk. Here and there Cody spotted several residents of the neighborhood arriving home from work, being greeted by their children and pets. It was a peaceful slice of paradise as far as he was concerned.

Alongside him Zack walked silently with his head down and hands jammed in pockets of his hoodie. Something was troubling him. With a start Cody realized that this was the first time since arriving in the past that he was alone with his brother.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Cody asked. Zack glanced up at him and then returned his eyes to the sidewalk sighing in frustration.

"I wish that there was some way I could help, but I'm too weak."

"You'll get stronger, it just takes time and practice," Cody explained.

"How come you didn't take a nap after training?"

"I wasn't tired. I'm used to the after effects since I've been fighting for my life on and off for two years now."

"Oh…"

They soon came up upon a park near the end of the horseshoe shaped neighborhood which was sparsely occupied by children and a few adults. Zack led the way across an open grass field presumably used for playing football and soccer and took a seat on a bench that looked upon the playground. Cody joined him and they watched the kids playing on swings and sliding down the slide with a touch of envy. They were all so happy, carefree and innocent. It made him miss the days of his childhood playing with Zack and later pranking the staff and guests of the Tipton.

"Cody?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm…sorry." Cody was taken aback; Zack had done nothing to be sorry about the entire time he'd been with him.

"For what?"

"For not being there with you in the future."

"Zack…You have nothing to be sorry about," Cody whispered, looking up at the first few stars beginning to appear to hold in the tears that threatened to fall as he had a brief flashback of his brother telling him to run, "If only I had been a little faster or a little stronger I could have saved you."

"Guess we're both sorry," Zack said. He extended his arm, slowly at first, and set it across Cody's shoulders in a gesture of comfort. The physical contact was almost too much for Cody who was bursting with happiness at having his brother back in his life.

"Things will be different this time," Cody promised quietly, "I'll make sure we all come out of this alive."

"I believe in you bro," Zack said, a small smile brightening his face.

The piercing scream of a child made them both look around with a start. Several of the children were starting to run away from something as yet unseen. Just as Cody began to feel their presence, he spotted several dark shapes moving within the tree line that bordered one side of the park. There were Demons here…

"What the hell?"

"Demons," Cody hissed jumping to his feet as he quickly analyzed the situation. Several Orcs were now entering the park and were heading towards the street and the adults who were grabbing their children before running away with them. The brothers went virtually ignored. At least they were until Cody exploded into action.

"Stay back!" He commanded Zack before racing to intercept the Orcs closing in on the families who were lagging behind. The Demons slowed and began to turn as they sensed Cody's rising power. Too slowly it turned out as the now fully powered up Child of Light cut down the two leading Orcs with Excalibur in the blink of an eye.

"Get outta here!" Cody yelled as he interposed himself between the fleeing people and the Demons, summoning his massive kite shield and facing it towards the Orcs bearing down on him. One of the adults, a fit man in his late twenties carrying his young daughter paused next to him.

"We'll be back Child, you have my word." Then he was gone and Cody felt better realizing that this man was probably one of the Paladins Taschen had mentioned. The alarm would be sounded and help would be arriving soon.

Cody braced himself as one of the Orcs slammed into his shield and he spun in the blink of an eye, whipping Excalibur around and slicing the Demon neatly in half.

"Bring it!" Cody thundered as he formed the 'bubble' shield Taschen had shown him, surrounding himself with a half sphere of translucent golden light. Cody turned the tables on the Orcs and charged through them, weaving around them and taking them out with several precise attacks with his sword while simultaneously blocking incoming hits with his shield. He felt a strange sense of great spatial awareness and it was this new feeling that allowed him to easily block attacks he didn't even see coming at him as he focused on attacking. It seemed that this was what Taschen had meant about them behind 'defensive' oriented Children.

Just as he finished up the last of the Demons that had emerged from the tree line he became aware of an even larger group approaching from the street side of the park heading towards him. Unfortunately Zack was between them and Cody. Zack spotted the danger and began moving towards a safer location.

Cody sprinted at breakneck speed to reach his brother and then rocketed past him slamming into the newly arrived Demon horde. His shield vibrated wildly as it absorbed the impact of Cody bashing aside a pair of Orcs directly in his path. He inhaled sharply as he planted his left foot and pivoted with his right side letting Excalibur swing in an arc across his body and rip into the Orcs that he hadn't already knocked down.

Flowing with the momentum of the initial attack Cody tucked his sword close to his side and used the kite shield to protect his body from several spears that were thrown at him in retaliation. There were too many of them and they were way too close to Zack. This was bad…real bad.

"Run Zack!" Cody shouted, drawing in more power than he could handle. He released some of his energy through the bubble shield in an expanding sphere of light that displaced the air around him with a loud bang, cracking the concrete path beneath his feet and sent the forward line of Orcs staggering backwards shrieking in pain from being touched by pure light.

His senses screamed of a new threat and Cody glanced up and behind him to spot several Wraiths closing in on Zack whose path of escape was now blocked by even more Demons approaching from the far side of the park. Cody tossed his sword high into the air, freeing up his right hand and he targeted the shadowy monsters descending from above, unseen by Zack. The fabric of reality was torn open and Cody sent several rapid fire lances of golden light airborne, they moved slower than usual, but they tracked the dark creatures more accurately and impacted with devastating results. A half dozen Wraiths wailed in agony as they were dissolved.

Cody reached out and caught Excalibur as it fell and immediately turned back to his rear to fight off the second group of Orcs, nearly getting his head lopped off had it not been for his lightning quick reflexes. Knowing how limited he was in close combat with Zack to protect, Cody slammed Excalibur into the ground and it sent up a wall of fire and light that crashed into the nearest demons. Explosions chained every few feet as the energy raced across the ground, digging a deep furrow and exploding every few feet hurling concrete, dirt and random debris into the air that shredded nearly a dozen of the Demons, but still they kept on coming. With that group reeling from the vicious attack, Cody sent a volley of fire at the new group closing in on Zack, a half dozen lances of golden light slamming into the front lines of the charging Demons indiscriminately blasting Orcs, a swing set and the elevated wooden play house.

Cody felt himself growing weaker by the minute and things weren't looking very good. Channeling the light, compounded by having used it for most of the afternoon during training, was draining his stamina and there were still a large amount of Demons in the park. They'd originally been drawn to him because of his powerful aura, but now some of them were starting to turn and go after Zack directly. Several other demons were attempting to surround him, to keep him from helping the younger boy and eventually kill him once and for all. Cody sent out a final lance of light energy which cut across the advance of the demons heading for Zack, killing several more Orcs and wounding others. It was all he could do as he turned back to face the mass of demons rushing at him.

"With me Zack!" Cody shouted, feeling the younger boy's power appear on his mental radar as Zack reached out for the light. The situation was desperate enough that he would need to fight too.

Cody had a strange feeling enter his consciousness as Zack raced over and stood back to back with him. He was now acutely aware of his brother's orientation towards the Demons he faced versus the direction that he was looking. In addition to that extra sensory perception, Cody was also aware of just how many Demons there were behind him and where exactly they were without even looking at them. He hadn't felt this in training…

Excalibur whipped around to stagger the advance of the Orcs and Cody suddenly knew that one of the Orcs behind him was aiming for Zack with its axe. He twisted sideways and deflected the attack before returning the favor with a quick thrust of his sword. Then, even as Zack lashed out with his own sword at two of the Orcs in front of him, Cody realized a new danger and parried a blow aimed at his brother from Zack's right flank and then bashed the offending Orc with his shield sending it sprawling to the ground taking a couple of its fellow Demons with it.

"There's too many," Cody breathed, resuming the engagement with the group that had arrived from the street. Lance after lance of golden light smashed into the Orcs, ruthlessly knocking them backwards before disintegrating them. Cody began to move forward into the space he'd cleared with his energy attacks, realizing that his side had far fewer Demons in it than Zack's and that they could possibly break out. Zack followed closely behind him without a word.

Cody brutally hacked and slashed the Orcs in his path, using brute force rather than technique to overcome them, and strong armed several others out of the way with his shield. He burst free of the Demons and turned around the retreat backwards as Zack fell in behind and slightly to his left. Where had they all come from?

"Stay behind me Zack!"

Thankfully at that moment several of the Paladins arrived, donned in lightweight protective armor and wielding swords and shields of their own. Cody rotated his sword with his wrist as he stopped his backward motion and joined the Paladin's charge, taking the lead and bulldozing a path through the Orcs. Cody was amazed at how good his new allies were as they maintained their fighting formation and engaged the Orcs one at a time, dropping them in rapid succession. They were very well trained.

"Trolls!" one of the Paladins called out as three of the lumbering beasts emerged from the tree line.

"Cover me!" Cody shouted, knowing that dealing with these larger Demons was his top priority. The Paladins moved up to cover his rear and flanks as Cody dismissed his shield and sword.

He combined both of his hands and unleashed an incredible blast of light energy. The powerful beam, thick as a tree trunk, leapt forward with an earsplitting crack of thunder and ripped into the far left Troll and shredded it. Cody inhaled sharply, biting back the exhaustion overcoming him as the large Demon toppled to the ground and he recharged his power to fire upon the middle Troll.

With two of them down, Cody re-summoned Excalibur and charged the final Troll. He leapt into a combat roll to avoid the swing of its ridiculously huge wooden club, darted around behind it as he came up on his feet and sliced the backsides of its knees. The Troll dropped heavily to its wounded knees, unable to support the weight of its body and Cody drove Excalibur through the back of the Demon's head and watched pitilessly as it fell forward with the hilt of his blade sticking out of it.

Wraiths screamed loudly as they descended upon the battle and Cody swung his right arm backhanded, releasing several spheres of light to intercept them. Then he fell forward onto all fours as his exhaustion slammed ruthlessly into him, threatening to make him black out. He breathed heavily and willed himself to remain awake and retain his hold on the light that he was channeling. The remaining Paladins gathered in a circle around him, some of them dragging their wounded along with them, for a final stand to protect one of the Children of Light they'd sworn to defend upon taking up arms against the Demons. Zack wasn't among them, though it was entirely possible that he might have escaped. Cody couldn't feel his brother's presence anywhere.

"Where's Zack?" Cody cried out as he got up onto one knee and looked around at the men protecting him, "Where is he?" The man who had fled with his daughter and promised to return addressed Cody as there was a brief lull in the fighting.

"The other Child of Light is dead. I'm sorry…"

Cody's world ended…

He'd lost Zack again…

_"Things will be different this time," Cody promised quietly, "I'll make sure we all come out of this alive."_

_ "I believe in you bro," Zack said, a small smile brightening his face. _

"NOOOOOO!" Cody screamed in anguish. Then he caught sight of his brother's body lying still amongst a pile of Orcs through the legs of the men around him. His eyes widened as disbelief turned into the primal emotion of rage. His entire body shook uncontrollably and his hands balled into fists.

Something snapped inside of Cody, just as had happened when Chiam had killed Matt and gone after Lily, and a storm of energy erupted inside of him. His exhaustion pushed to the side and forgotten, Cody rose up on his feet as his aura intensified. Golden light wrapped tightly around him, conforming to the shape of his body as it created a black skintight padded suit onto which thick plates of golden armor molded themselves.

The thick chest plate formed first followed by the shoulder pauldrons which had large flanges to protect his neck and then the light raced down the sides of his body forming armor plates over his upper arms, forearms and finished with menacing looking gauntlets. Next a full set of greaves appeared which were broken only by the joints he would need to bend in order to move properly. Everywhere that there was a joint however, part of his armor from the upper or lower of part limb extended to cover it when he stood fully erect protecting the front of his knees, the back side of his elbows, the top of his forearms where they met the gauntlets and the front of his ankles where a segmented section of armor protected the joint while still allowing for a wide range of movement.

Excalibur took shape in his right hand and his shield formed strapped to his left arm with it centered over his left hand where he could grip a handhold on the backside for added stability. The Paladins parted as Cody moved forward. He glared at the Demons surrounding them who had been momentarily cowed by his display of power. Time seemed to stand still as no one moved…

Cody exploded into action, his aura seeming to lag behind for a moment as he raced forward with mind numbing speed and went to work on the Demon horde. The Paladins stood gaping as they witnessed firsthand the true awesome power of a Child of Light. He was a golden blur to them, but the results of his actions were easy to see as Orc body parts flew in all directions and they began dropping like flies. There were flashes of light and accompanying bangs as the Demon army was viciously shredded by continuous explosions of light with the survivors being cut down mercilessly by Excalibur.

Within a couple of minutes it was all over. The park was completely obliterated with the only parts left untouched by Cody's wrath the ground that the Paladins were standing on and the place where Zack's body lay. With no more Demons to fight and Cody's rage spent, his power rapidly dropped to nothing and he staggered as the exhaustion slammed into him with a renewed offensive. His equipment burst into sparks of light and his aura disappeared. He felt like he was going to throw up.

Falling onto all fours once more, Cody crawled over to his brother's body. Zack lay on his back, his midsection a bloody shredded mess. His eyes were open and the sides of his face glistened with tears. Still held tightly in his right hand was Fortitude, the sword wielded by the White Knight.

Zack was still alive!

If only barely…

He blinked and his eyes turned to look up at Cody meaningfully. Zack's entire body shuddered as he tried to speak and failed to say anything.

Cody tried to summon his power once again, remembering that Taschen had said that he had the power to heal wounds and hoped that instinct would once again take over, but the light slipped out of his grasp. He was too weak to channel it now. Once again he found himself too weak and too late to save the person who meant everything to him. Burning hot tears streamed down his face as he sat down next to Zack, pulled his head into his lap and gently held him.

"Oh god no! Don't die Zack! Please don't die!" Cody pleaded. Two Paladins knelt on either side of Zack and vainly attempted to staunch the flow of blood with thick cloths. Zack licked his lips and struggled to speak.

"It'll be okay Cody, because I love you…" He coughed, unable to say anything further as a trail of blood leaked out of the corner of his mouth to mix with his tears. Zack's eyes closed to dangerously narrow slits and he took a wheezing breath.

"Stay with me Zack…" Cody pleaded again, then as his brother's eyes closed completely he begged, "Please…" Zack's left hand clawed into the grass underneath him while his right tightened around the hilt of his sword into a white knuckle grip. He was a definitely a fighter, clinging to life for as long as he could.

Zack inhaled sharply as a shudder passed through his upper body. He then exhaled one final time, his head turning sideways in Cody's lap and all of the tension abruptly left his body. He'd lost the battle for his own life. Fortitude flared brightly beside Zack for an inordinate amount of time, seeming to hum softly as if it were mourning the passing of its master before completely vanishing.

His brother was gone…

Cody sat there cradling Zack's head in his lap, his tears dripping off his cheeks onto his twin's face. He brushed a lock of Zack's hair off of the side of his face and behind his ear, the warmth of his brother's flesh seeming to burn Cody's ice cold hands. This couldn't be happening… This had to be some sick and twisted dream that he would wake up from any second now to find an energetic and enthusiastic Zack at his bedside begging him to do some more training.

He was dimly aware of another person who had a golden aura around them sliding to a stop and dropping beside Zack, placing their hands on the wounds and attempting to repair the damage. But, it was already too late… Zack's wounds were too numerous and he had lost too much blood to be revived. The White Knight had already moved on.

After awhile, the other Child of Light ceased their efforts to revive Zack. Cody glanced up to see a bruised, bloodied and exhausted Taschen kneeling there. He was crying too, but he realized that he still had a duty to perform and the Guardian stood up shakily and went to do what he could for the wounded Paladins. It was when Taschen moved that Cody caught sight of a familiar face watching him from the street.

If he had been able to channel the light, Cody surely would have exploded once again with awesome power. Since he couldn't, he was content to let his blood boil as he gently set Zack's head down on the grass and stood. He started walking toward the newcomer, not caring how suicidal his actions were in his weakened condition.

Cody wanted revenge.


	19. Continue Mission

**Chapter Seventeen**

**_"Continue Mission"_**

**_September 4th  
_**

Jarran Noh'Malkiri steeled himself for the ensuing impact as Cody Martin came at him and then tackled him to the ground. They rolled sideways, Cody struggling to hit him and Jarran restraining the older boy's arms effortlessly without even using his own power.

"Why did you do this you son of a bitch!" Cody screamed, ending up on his back with Jarran pinning him from above.

"I didn't do this Cody," Jarran said in a calm voice despite the fact that his sworn enemy was trying to strangle him, albeit in vain, with his allies and another Child of Light approaching the two of them. There was no way the Child of Darkness could relate to Cody's pain of losing his twin brother and so he didn't try, choosing instead to try calming him down.

"Bullshit! You came here to find us and kill us!"

"Yes," Jarran agreed, not bothering to lie, "But, I didn't order the Demons to come here. I followed them here when they wouldn't tell me what they were doing."

"Who then? Who killed my brother?" Jarran became keenly aware of the fact that Taschen's sword was incredibly close to his throat. He hoped he wasn't making a mistake by placing his fate in the hands of these two.

"Chiam." All the fight left Cody in an instant and he slumped against the ground utterly defeated. The young man closed his eyes and began to cry again. Jarran released Cody's arms and very slowly stood up, moving off to the side, so as not to provoke Taschen into using his weapon. The young Champion of Chaos had no doubt that while he might be able to defeat Taschen, there was no way he could do anything before the Child of Light cut his throat if he made a wrong move.

"Why didn't you run? Better yet why didn't you try to kill Cody just now?" Taschen asked him, "Which by the way is the only reason you're still alive…"

"Things just haven't been adding up," Jarran explained, and when that didn't get any sort of reaction out of them, he looked directly at Cody, "And because Lily asked me to talk with him."

Cody immediately stopped sobbing and propped himself up on his arms, opening his eyes to spear Jarran with his bloodshot gaze.

"Lily's dead."

"No she's not. She followed after you in the Time Machine. She went to the Tipton to find you, but you were already gone. That's when she found me and told me everything." Cody looked away from Jarran to Taschen.

"How else would I know that I protected you from my father to buy you time to travel into the past? I'm still not sure if I believe Lily's story, but only a fool wouldn't notice something strange is going on here," Jarran continued, hoping that he was getting through to Cody and that this standoff could end without him winding up dead. With great difficulty and the help of one of the Paladins, Cody stood up and reached inside his shirt. Jarran gasped as Cody withdrew the last thing he had ever expected to see. Held gently between his fingers was an exact replica of the soul stone he wore around his neck.

"Believe," Cody said simply, then tucked it back into his shirt, "I thought that you were my friend!" He cried in anguish, gesturing behind him where Zack's body lay. Cody turned away and hobbled towards his fallen brother.

"What do we do with him?" Taschen called out.

"Let him go, I don't care anymore," Cody replied angrily before falling to his knees alongside his brother. Taschen looked at Jarran warily.

"I won't attack you."

"I'd like to believe you."

"Trust sometimes takes a leap of faith."

"You are a Child of Darkness and the son of the Demon Lord. Why in the hell should I trust you?"

"Because I am a Child of Darkness who is beginning to question his loyalty to his father."

"That's a pretty good reason," Taschen admitted. They stared at each other for a few seconds afterward and then he withdrew his sword.

"I just want to talk to Cody about the future," Jarran said simply, then with a glance at Cody who was holding his dead brother's body and sobbing loudly, "When he's done grieving."

"I don't think that that will be any time soon," Taschen said, looking over at his companion as well, "Just come back to this place tomorrow morning and I'll work something out."

"Alright," Jarran agreed. He turned to leave and then stopped, "Tell Cody I'm sorry for his loss."

"He doesn't want your pity," Taschen said scathingly before walking away to try and console Cody. Jarran watched them for a moment and then walked away, the Paladins eyeing him suspiciously but not moving to stop him.

There was a deep internal conflict beginning to brew inside of Jarran because of everything he'd been told and everything he had seen today. Lily's story and the soul stone Cody carried had completely thrown him off balance. Then there was the fact that Lily, Taschen and Cody had all felt more real to him as people than any of the Children of Darkness, save Pandora, ever had. He walked back the way he had come intending to spend the night at Clara's safe house once more. Maybe, in the absence of Pandora's confidence, Clara would be able to provide some insight into his troubled thoughts and a second opinion on this possible future.

It wasn't normal for someone like him to confide in a mere mortal he'd only just met. It also wasn't normal for a Child of Darkness to walk away from a Child of Light without bloodshed either though… These were strange times indeed.

* * *

Far away across the galaxy night was also falling upon the Champion training grounds on the world of Haven. Having eaten a full dinner to replace all of the calories he'd burned up training today and replenishing his body with vital nutrients, the Zachary Martin from the alternate time line who had been rescued by Casius found himself sitting in the top row of the coliseum. His new clothing billowed in the gentle breeze, the finely crafted white silk shirt was left unbuttoned around his neck to let the cool breeze caress his sore chest.

Elissa had only just arrived after Zack had gotten his injuries cleaned and bandaged by the on site healers and quickly put their ministrations to shame by using her golden light energy to heal the burns on his chest, the gash on the side of his face and various other cuts and scrapes. The only evidence left behind by her work were patches of newly re-grown bright pink skin. He was deeply grateful for her care and then later Kasen's advice on eating habits post workout. To make the most out of his short training, Zack was put on a high protein and carbohydrate diet to help his utterly destroyed muscles to heal and grow while also providing him tons of energy to replace what he'd lost today and what he'd lose tomorrow.

Proper diet and regular exercise, Kasen explained, helped keep a Champion in top fighting form. It was true that this had no impact on how strong Zack would be when channeling the light which automatically boosted his physical attributes to superhuman levels, but staying in shape greatly conditioned his body to the exhaustive physical impact that using the light had on his body allowing him to fight longer and harder.

"There's more to being a powerful Champion than that though," Kasen had said later in reference to his training, exercise and diet after Zack had showered and changed into clean clothes. They had sat on the bed in the room he was staying in at Haven's capitol city talking after dinner.

"What more could there possibly be?" Zack asked in exasperation. He was already doing so much to get ready that he couldn't imagine what else he would have to do.

"You remember when I explained the differences between how your power works and how your brother's does?" Kasen replied, referencing the instruction he'd given about offensive and defensive Children of Light.

"Yeah."

"You are the same as Cody in that you both exist to protect the light and all those born into it. You are different in how you go about doing it however…"

Kasen sighed and Zack got the strangest feeling that his mentor was about to touch on an uncomfortable subject.

"In order to protect, we have to kill without question and without hesitation." Zack watched Kasen look at him trying to gauge his reaction, but finding none he pressed harder, "When you fight the Champions of Chaos, you have to kill them any way you can. You have to be willing to spill blood and take the life of another human being to protect everything you care about."

"I don't know if I can…" Zack murmured softly, finally affected by Kasen's words. He was suddenly reminded of the image of a young man with brown hair and brown eyes looking back at him in horror and hearing Cody's voice hissing in anger, _"Even if it takes me the rest of my life, I will hunt the rest of your kind down without mercy until I draw my last breath!"_ Then he'd held up his hands to find them covered in blood and that fragmented memory had been enough to push Zack over the edge to Level Three which was primarily characterized by the thin lightweight plate armor he could now summon.

"I know it's hard Zack. We are handed cruel fates by being born pure and having to stain our hands with the blood of others to protect the people counting on us. Every young Child of Light like you feels the same way when they learn of this. This is where the line is drawn."

"The line?"

"The line between those who will become great heroes and the ones who will remain mediocre Champions who can't do much more than injure the enemy or get a lucky kill here and there."

"Oh… I see…" Zack whispered, picking at the sheets of the bed to give his hands something to do.

"No, you don't see," Kasen said, shaking his head as if he were talking to a child.

"You will never become powerful if you refuse to kill and embrace what you were born to do. You will never reach the fourth level. You will never be strong like Casius, Athena or myself. You will be brushed aside as though you weren't even there and everyone you care about will die because you were too weak minded to kill your enemies. Your brother will die because of you."

"I…" Zack snapped his mouth shut. He didn't know what to say to that.

"Don't say anything, just think it over," Kasen said, standing up and placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "I'll see you in the morning for training." With that, he left to go do whatever he did when he wasn't training the young Champion of Earth.

Zack lay against the stone bench behind him and gazed up into Haven's sky as it turned completely black and the stars burned brightly. He'd been doing nothing but thinking about what Kasen had said to him earlier that evening. All bravado aside, could he really take another human life without question and without hesitation to protect what he cared about? Even if they were the enemy?

Of course he could, Zack thought angrily. It was kill or be killed wasn't it? If he didn't stop the Champions of Chaos, they would kill Mom, Dad, Cody and everyone else on Earth. Hell, if he stopped the enemy for good, maybe he wouldn't ever have to kill again.

It was a catch twenty-two. He had to be ready to kill to become powerful, but once he'd killed his enemies he wouldn't have to take any more lives would he? As he was thinking this he became aware of Elissa sitting down next to him and looking up at the stars with him.

"Earth is there," She said softly after he didn't say anything, pointing off to the right of where he was looking.

"Hmm."

"A copper for your thoughts?" Zack couldn't help smiling at that question, surprised that the analogy carried over to this world.

"How did you get powerful? Defensive Children I mean," Zack said, curious to know how Cody would unlock his higher level powers.

"Ah, so that's what he talked to you about!" Elissa remarked, "Sadly our way isn't any easier. It's tragic…"

"Tragic how?"

"I mean we grow powerful through tragedy. We have to learn the true value of the lives we protect and be ready to lay down our lives for them without hesitation."

"What happened to you, if it's ok for me to ask?" Zack wondered.

"My story goes hand in hand with Kasen's," Elissa began, reaching up to wipe tears from her eyes, "We were repelling a vicious attack by the Time Realm when Kasen's twin brother was killed. After that, a switch was flipped and he calmly struck down two of the Champions of Time. Only once it was all over did he grieve…" A sickening image of Zack holding his brother's lifeless body in his arms came unbidden to the forefront of his mind and he struggled to push it away. At the same time his heart went out for his mentor… Zack hadn't realized that Kasen was strongly impressing the fact that 'Cody would die because of him' upon Zack because the same thing had happened to him in the past.

"Kasen's brother was also my lover and the father of my child. He was killed by the enemy when my little girl was only a baby, depriving her of her father growing up. I went wild after that. I joined Kasen's rampage of revenge as we both unlocked our fourth levels." Elissa paused, seeming to savor the final part of her story despite the saddening circumstances.

"The Champions of Time couldn't stop him and none of them could touch him because I wouldn't allow them."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Zack whispered sincerely after a short silence between them.

"Don't hesitate Zack, just kill them," Elissa said, ignoring his apology, "You can feel bad about it later if you want to."

He had the feeling that this was another piece of advice that didn't require a reply, so he said nothing at all. They lay there for awhile longer before Elissa began talking to him about tomorrow's training and some of the basics about working with a defensive Child of Light. She was in the middle of a piece of advice telling him that to succeed, he needn't worry about protecting his fighting partner, when the radiance of white light suddenly filled the circular arena floor far below them.

The light soon faded to a moderately powerful aura and Zack clearly saw that it was Casius. The Earth Realm Lord hadn't visited Zack since the day he woke up in Haven's infirmary. What was he doing here now? Casius quickly located them and flew up into the seating area to join them.

"Hello Casius," Zack greeted as the older man stood next to him.

"Zachary, a pleasure," Casius replied, refusing Zack's hand gesture offering him to sit down, "Is your training coming along well?"

"I'm improving…" Zack trailed off, not sure what he was asking.

"I'd say so," Kasen said as he appeared flying over the top of the coliseum to join them as well, "He's moving up through his third level pretty well. We're doing training with Elissa as his fighting partner versus me tomorrow. What brings you here at this late hour sir?"

"Bad news. Always bad news."

"That's becoming all too common these days," Elissa said with a note of displeasure in her voice.

"What's happened Casius?" Kasen asked.

"Zachary and Dante are dead," Casius answered somberly, "I just found out about it."

"What? How?" Zack demanded as he felt a tight pain constrict his heart. The invasion of Earth wasn't supposed to happen yet. How could two Champions of Earth already be dead, one of them his alternate self? Oh no… If he was dead… Cody…

"It's not important," Casius waved away Zack's question, "What is important is that this may have emboldened them. The invasion might start any time now. I needed to see how you're doing because I may need you sooner than I thought."

Zack nodded, still in a daze upon hearing the news of his death. Then there was Cody, well, both Cody's. God only knew how they were coping with his loss… Casius couldn't even tell the two of them about Zack's existence on Haven because he was keeping him as a secret weapon in the event something like this happened…

"I'll send for you when the time comes Zack, until then, stick to Cody's schedule and keep working," Casius instructed and then his aura flared as he prepared to Phase Walk back to Earth, "I have to go check on him."

* * *

"YOU SAID YOU WOULD PROTECT HIM!" Code screamed in anguish. Cody had just finished delivering the tragic news. His mother had broken down and was in hysterics. Several of the Paladin's wives had come over with their husbands and were now consoling Carey in another room leaving Cody alone with his younger self. At first Code had fallen into shock, seemingly immune to Zack's death, but that hadn't lasted long.

In an explosion of anger Code had started screaming and hitting Cody. For his part, Cody felt he deserved this and didn't try to stop it. It was entirely his fault that Code had lost his twin brother. It was unforgivable. Eventually Code tired himself out and broke down into a fit of sobbing in Max's comforting embrace. She too was torn by Zack's death, but not nearly as much as his family.

Cody excused himself and went out back onto the deck where Taschen quietly followed him. He slammed his hand into the side of a table and sent it gyrating wildly before crashing into the wooden railing. Then he picked up a plastic chair and ruthlessly slammed it to the ground, breaking it into several large pieces.

He soon staggered away from the destruction he had wrought and sat down on the wooden decking heavily.

"It's all my fault Taschen…"

"It wasn't you who killed Zack and Dante," Taschen said sourly, "Chiam did this."

"Dante's dead?" Cody asked in disbelief, unwilling to believe that one of their precious few strong Champions of Earth was gone. Taschen gestured at himself and Cody remembered that he had seen just how badly injured he was earlier.

"We caught up to him alright, but Chiam overpowered me and took out Dante. I retreated here and that's when I felt you."

"This can't be happening…" Cody groaned.

* * *

**A/N:** Zack of the present and Dante are both gone now, severely reducing the number of remaining Champions of Earth.

Chiam is the reason that they're both dead. Cody blames himself for Zack's death while Taschen returns to the others bruised and beaten bringing with him the news of Dante's demise. Code and Carey are both devastated...

Cody's anger is on the rise, overpowering his grief. He won't do anything stupid will he? Good thing Casius is returning to check on him.

Jarran looks as if he's beginning to believe the Children of Light now, but what is he really thinking and what will he do in the end?

On Haven Zack is resting after a hard day of training, reflecting on Kasen's words. He must kill the enemy without hesitation and without mercy at any cost, or he will never be able to save his loved ones.

Stay tuned for **Chapter Eighteen: "Deja Vu"**


	20. Deja Vu

**Chapter Eighteen**

**_"Déjà Vu"_**

_**September 5th **_

"I just don't know what to do…" Jarran admitted softly in the early morning hours. He'd returned to Clara's house, dozed fitfully for several hours before waking up around three in the morning. Much to his surprise, Clara was wide awake and reading up about recent events in the newspaper when he'd wandered into the kitchen looking for something to drink.

Clara had graciously supplied him with an old Earth favorite snack, milk and cookies, before setting aside her work and giving him her full attention. At first he'd been uneasy talking to her about his personal thoughts regarding what Lily had told him, but he'd warmed up to her over the long period of time they talked until he finished with his run in with Future Cody. It helped for him to speak freely that she was a devoted servant to the Chaos Realm and had no personal loyalty to the Demon Lord.

"What does your heart tell you?"

"It tells me that I want to protect my world and that I don't want to die."

"Well you can't very well protect the Chaos Realm if you're dead, so your goal should be to do whatever it takes to safeguard your life."

"Are you saying that I should kill my father?" The question left an unsettling feeling in his stomach. Though he hadn't been much of a father, could Jarran really do something like that to the man who gave him the life he was now so jealously trying to preserve?

"No. However, if you were to indirectly aid the Children of Light by removing your strength from your father's rule…" Clara trailed off, leaving him to figure out the implications.

"This speculation is all contingent on whether or not I believe Lily and Cody…" Jarran protested. He was still unwilling to turn against his own people, however indirectly, based solely on the word of his sworn enemies. Then again, the private information of his past known to Lily and the presence of an exact replica of Jarran's soul stone on Cody greatly unsettled his perception of the situation.

"Then that's where you start my Prince. Do you believe them or do you not? Until you answer that question, you will never know which path to walk," Clara explained, offering him more cookies from the plastic container on the table to which he declined. She was right. He would get nowhere until he cast his lot with one side or the other. Still, he couldn't help but ask what she believed.

"Which path do you think I should take?"

"Only you can answer that question Prince Jarran." He nodded, thinking that that was the end of it, but then was surprised when she continued, "But if it were me, I would…"

Clara stopped talking abruptly and looked over Jarran's shoulder as he heard the front door open behind him. He craned his head around to see his cousin letting himself into the safe house. Jarran noticed he was walking with a limp as he made his way over to them and dropped heavily into an empty chair at the table.

"Morning Chiam," Jarran greeted, looking him over inquiringly. In addition to the limp he'd observed, Jarran could also spot a mild bruise on Chiam's left cheek now that he was closer. He'd obviously been in a tough fight.

"Would you like something to drink my lord?" Clara asked, standing up in advance.

"Just water," He answered, then to Jarran he asked, "Have you made any progress in the search?" Jarran however had a question of his own he wanted to ask. Clara set down a glass of ice cold water on the table for the older Champion and then withdrew leaving them alone.

"Why did you send the Demons to attack that neighborhood yesterday?"

"What do you care? Our spies identified numerous Paladins living there," Chiam said with a flippant attitude, drank half the glass of water and then pressed on with his original question, "Any progress?"

"There's two of them living in Suite 2330 at the Tipton Hotel in downtown Boston," Jarran answered, thinking of how the Martins could come to no further harm with them safely away from their old home. He still wanted to talk to Cody later in the morning if he was up for it and now that Chiam was back in town, Jarran needed to find a way to keep him busy until he made his decision on where his loyalty lied. Sending him there not only would buy him time, but he wasn't technically lying either.

"Very good, I will take care of them in the morning then after I've reported in." Jarran eyed his cousin suspiciously. What was he talking about?

"Reported what?"

"I will be telling Ashani that Dante the Vanguard is dead along with these other two Children of Light and that the invasion can proceed."

"But I haven't found the third one yet!" Jarran protested.

"Your father only asked for us to eliminate half of them and very soon our mission will be complete."

"I see…" Jarran said, his mind going into overdrive. If he couldn't slow his cousin down while he figured things out, then Jarran would just have to make the most out of what little time he had left. Once Chiam left for the Chaos Realm, Jarran would set out to meet with Taschen.

* * *

Cody felt a strange sense of Déjà vu as he slipped into Suite 2330 at the Tipton Hotel late in the morning. Here he was, once again in his former home on a lazy Sunday afternoon with Chiam due to arrive at any moment. As he'd grown stronger in the alternate timeline, Cody must have relived his moment in his daydreams and in his sleep hundreds of times. Only, in his imagination, he was powerful enough to protect his family from the impending doom.

He reached out with his mind and brushed against the light, silently commanding Excalibur to form in the palm of his right hand. There was one more thing he had to do to prepare himself before fighting Chiam. The night prior he had decided to block out his grief as best as possible and focus on caring for his body by treating it to a good meal and a full night's sleep.

Now Cody needed to mentally prepare himself. He had to remind himself that he was fighting to protect his loved ones and not for revenge. Cody knew that he needed to remain in control and fight for the right reasons rather than give into the destructive rage he knew lie dormant for now deep inside of him. He kissed the edge of Excalibur and then whispered to it.

"Guide my hand, safeguard the innocent." He was now ready.

Dread began to creep into his thoughts.

Cody took a deep breath to calm his nerves and blanked his mind of unnecessary thought.

A sour aftertaste built up on his tongue.

He reached out and took hold of the light faster than he had ever done before.

The door to Suite 2330 was slammed off its hinges and the man responsible for Zack's death stepped into the room, his eyes widening in surprise as he realized there was a Child of Light waiting for him. Chiam barely had a second to harness his full power before Cody was fully encased by his newly acquired armor and bearing down on him.

Cody lashed out briefly with a bewildering display of excellent swordsmanship before falling back into the suite and going on the defensive as Taschen had taught him to do. He would wear Chiam down like this and then, when the time was right, kill him. Every attack the Champion of Chaos made was parried or deflected by Excalibur or simply flat out blocked by Cody's large kite shield. He grinned as Justice thundered off his shield time and again, unable to break through.

This was too easy.

"What are you smiling about scum?" Chiam sneered, reforming his long sword into dual falchions in the blink of an eye and going to town on Cody's impenetrable defenses.

"You're nothing to me," Cody taunted. Then he mentally reminded himself to focus on what he was doing and block out everything else. It was the only way that he would win.

Sparks shot out in all directions as Chiam's weapons clashed against Cody's sword and shield. As long as he let his instincts do the work, he would be fine. Cody was distantly aware of a part of himself focusing on where Chiam was putting his weight, how he moved his arms, where his eyes were looking and how the blades in his hands were angled. It was these observations that played a critical role in guiding his hands as he placed his sword and shield right where they needed to be time and time again.

Without thinking, Cody used his shield to slam both of Chiam's falchions away for a brief instant and delivered an unexpected kick to the Champion's midsection forcing him backwards. Chiam summoned a massive quantity of negative energy and released it in a wide beam of destruction in retaliation.

Rather than move to avoid it or try and block it with his shield, Cody calmly stood in its path as his bubble shield sprung up around him and deflected the energy away into the wall behind him blowing out an even bigger part of the street facing wall. Chiam fired again and received the same results.

"Like I said, you're nothing to me," Cody hissed in triumph as he bore down on the stunned Champion of Chaos.

"We'll see about that."

* * *

Casius arrived in a burst of brilliant white light that went largely unnoticed by the crowd of spectators looking up at the Tipton Hotel. He didn't need to rely on his sixth sense to know that Cody was fighting Chiam up there. Before he could make a move to intervene, the upper floors of the hotel exploded in a thunderous boom and came crashing down into the rest of the building while debris were launched in every direction sending the onlookers running for their lives.

"OH MY GOD!" A woman in a business suit screamed as she ran past him. This madness had to stop!

Casius launched himself into the air and soared upward to hover over the dusty haze that was all the remained of the upper floors of the once magnificent building. He caught sight of Cody's aura and dropped down behind him. He was shocked by what he saw…

* * *

Cody had gotten hold of the Champion's sword arm as the two of them wrestled around on the remainder of the floor and twisted with all his strength feeling the bones of Chiam's wrist twist and then snap with a sick sense of pleasure.

"You bastard!" Cody gripped Chiam by the top of his breastplate, picked him up slightly and slammed him down with incredible force. The floor cracked underneath the Champion, a testament of the ruthless force Cody had used. He wasn't done yet though… Cody slammed Chiam into the ground again and again, screaming in blind fury as he lost control of himself. Soon blood pooled around him and stained his face and chest. Chiam's armor and presence had long since faded away.

"Why'd you have to take Zack away from me!" Cody screamed in anguish, "This is all your fault!"

* * *

The Tipton started shaking as Cody's power began to run rampant. Arcs of lighting flicked outward from his aura and blasted chunks out of the nearby high rise buildings. He didn't move though, not even as Casius approached him. He just remained kneeling beside the dead Champion of Chaos, momentarily entranced by the amount of blood on his gauntlets.

"Power down Cody," Casius instructed and was promptly ignored, "NOW!" He thundered.

Cody looked up at him with amber eyes that were beginning to glow with a golden radiance. Casius had seen this before and knew that it was a dangerous sign. If he didn't gain control of Cody right now, he might never be able to again. The last time a Truth Seeker had looked like this, he'd destroyed himself with his own power.

"If you'd been here instead of playing your stupid little games Zack would still be alive!" Cody screamed at him, standing up to face the Realm Lord. Casius summoned his Soulbound weapon and shaped it into a long staff before taking a few steps forward.

Cody lashed out at him with a powerful stream of golden light that Casius had to struggle to deflect with his aura. As the light faded away, Cody's sword was already bearing down on him. Casius smacked it away with the bottom of his staff, reversed its direction and slammed it into the Truth Seeker's midsection with thunderous force, toppling the young man.

"Sorry Cody," Casius apologized as he brought his weapon back around with blazing speed before the stunned teen could react and slammed it into the side of Cody's head. The Truth Seeker slumped unceremoniously onto his back, his armor fading away and his body lying still upon the debris strewn floor.

* * *

**A/N:** Chiam has set the invasion in motion and Jarran is running out of time, but at least our young Prince is finally coming around!

Meanwhile Cody's age old fantasies have finally come true. He has stopped Chiam cold on the exact day he would have killed Zack, but his relief is tainted by the fact that his brother is already gone. Cody loses himself in a violent rage, ruthlessly killing the enemy Champion before turning his hatred onto Casius.

What would have happened if Cody had lost complete control and given in to the berseker rising up inside of him? Could Casius have stopped him? Better yet, what's to stop Cody from going psycho again?

...and the eyes, the amber color with the golden radiance... we've seen that once before and Casius is right to fear it.

Stay tuned for **Chapter 19: Escalation Of Force **


	21. Escalation of Force

**Chapter Nineteen**

**"Escalation of Force"**

**_September 5th_**

Slowly, painfully, consciousness returned to Cody and with it came a feeling of emptiness. There had been times in the future where he awoke after being knocked out with no idea how it had happened. Unfortunately this was not one of those times. He had exacted his revenge upon Chiam with extreme brutality. Then, before his blind rage could ebb away he focused all of his anger upon Casius and attacked him with wild abandon. For that he was ashamed of himself…

Casius had only been trying to help; had only been trying to reign in the horrible monster that existed just underneath Cody's normal kind hearted personality.

Once again he'd lost control and given in to a side of himself that he preferred to pretend didn't exist. There had been a time when the young man would never have been capable of the doing the things he had done today. No, not just today… Ever since he had awakened the light inside of him, he had gone through similar experiences on many grim occasions.

Where had that Cody gone? When had he died?

He opened his eyes slowly, glad for the fact that he wasn't instantly blinded by bright lights and reached upward with his right hand to push down upon the throbbing pain in his temple. No doubt Taschen had healed the damage Casius had done to him, but it still hurt like hell where the Realm Lord's staff had nailed him in the head.

"Ugh…I hate myself," Cody sighed.

"But, I love you," said the last person he ever thought he'd hear again. Cody's hand fell to his side in surprise, his headache momentarily forgotten.

"Lily?"

The blond haired goddess appeared above him, her warm eyes and loving smile instantly melting his heart. Strands of her shoulder length hair hung down, tickling his cheeks and Cody inhaled a whiff of the fruity shampoo she had used on it. Jarran had told Cody that she was here in this timeline, but he hadn't believed it until now.

"Am I dreaming?" Lily reached over and pinched his arm, "Ow! Hey!"

"Nope, not dreaming," she answered, giggling softly before gently kissing him on the lips. Cody wrapped his arms around her back and deepened the kiss. She sure felt real.

"I thought I'd lost you…" Cody gasped when they finally broke apart. Indeed, the last time he had seen her was just before he entered the Tipton Hotel in the future to search for the time machine. When he came back outside to get her, she was gone and Pandora had claimed that Lily was dead. Later on he'd looked for her and called out her name to no avail. Then it was time to leave the future before Ashani overpowered his son who was buying Cody the time he needed to get away.

"You can't get rid of me that easy." Lily helped him sit up and he finally got to see her completely. The frightened girl he had rescued in the subway during the initial invasion in the future had changed over the years into a young woman who had a sort of rugged beauty about her. There was no one else he could ever love like her…

"How did you…?"

"Not important," Lily whispered, pressing a finger against his lips briefly before stroking his cheek, "The others are waiting for you."

"Others?"

"Your friends," Lily explained, "They're making final preparations for the defense of Earth and I think you need to be there."

"Sounds important," Cody teased her, his spirits greatly lifted by her presence. She slapped him playfully on the shoulder and then shoved him out of bed.

"Get going you!"

"Ok ok! I'm going, I'm going!" He exclaimed hurriedly as she mimed hitting him with a pillow. Just before he left the room however, she called out to him.

"Cody?"

"Yeah Lil?"

"Do you remember when we spent the night in front of the fire on Christmas?"

"Yeah," He replied, leaning against the door frame. As if he needed reminding of one of the happiest moment of their lives together, "I wouldn't say no to another night like that."

Lily smiled even as she blushed slightly. She opened her mouth to say something, then shut it as she tried to keep herself from laughing and made shooing motions instead. Cody raced back over to the bed, planted a kiss on her forehead and then retreated quickly out of the bedroom before she could swipe at him. She didn't follow, choosing instead to watch the spot where she had last seen him for a moment before flopping down on the sheets with a tired sigh.

* * *

Lily was right. Everyone he knew, and many others that he didn't, were gathered in the mansion's spacious study. Some of them were talking softly while the others sat quietly and listened. The main focus in the room was on Casius who was talking to a handful of men Cody had never seen before. They were all gathered around a table studying several maps and papers, talking somberly.

"Who are those guys?" Cody asked, gingerly rubbing the side of his head. Casius briefly caught his eye and gave him an apologetic shrug. Taschen detached himself from the planning and came over to welcome him back.

"You look like shit."

"I feel like it," Cody agreed, stifling a yawn with the back of his hand before continuing, "So who are all those guys?"

"Lord Altair, Commander of the Paladins." Taschen nodded his head at the most imposing looking man talking to Casius, "The others are the leaders and representatives of Earth's armies."

"They don't look like they're military…" Cody commented as he eyed the casual, albeit expensive looking, clothing they wore.

"Not national armies Cody, the Armies of Light. They were caught unprepared in your future, but this time they'll be ready. First and Second Army have begun building up their forces in every major city in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Third and Fourth Armies are securing the America's as we speak. They will handle the Demons if they should break through around the world while we deal with the Champions of Chaos."

"We have armies?"

"Yes, formed in secret and trained to kill any and all Demons. They are led into battle by the Paladins who answer only to us."

Cody nodded as if this were a normal thing to hear; too overwhelmed by the realization that Earth had a secret standing army in place that was specially trained to fight the lesser forces of any invading dark realms. He was grateful to have their help, but he just hoped that it wasn't all for nothing. They still had the threat of Ashani and his Champions hanging over their heads.

Across the room Code was sitting quietly on the couch, his accusing eyes seeming to burn holes in Cody's body, while Carey sat beside him with her arm around his shoulders. She appeared to be in shock. Cody hated seeing them like that.

Code should have been alive and full of energy, attacking the problem at hand with logic and coming up with an endless stream of ideas. Carey on the other hand should be fussing over her sons, trying to keep them out of trouble and from being a nuisance to the gathered leaders of Earth's defenders. Unfortunately, Zack's death had left a gaping hole in their lives and had shattered the normal cadence of their reality making them act and feel as they were now.

When Cody thought of his fallen brother now, he wondered why he still felt anger burning inside of him. Chiam was dead, so what was he angry at? Why did he have no more tears for his twin?

"Why'd you have to die Zack?" Cody complained under his breath, deciding to look around the rest of the study to focus his mind on something else.

Max was seated on Code's other side, holding his hand between hers in a comforting gesture. Her eyes occasionally darted to one side to stare off into the corner directly opposite Casius and his group before flicking back as if afraid to be caught staring. Despite the fact that the study was well lit, the spot that Max was looking at seemed to be cast in shadow. With a start Cody realized that Jarran was in the room with them as well, his eyes locked on Cody with the same intensity at Code's though he would occasionally shift his gaze over to Max making her look away.

What was going on there? Was there some sort of mistrust between them causing them to keep a close eye on the other? Before Cody could figure it out, Jarran stepped forward out of the unnatural shadows to talk to him.

"I want to help," the son of the Demon Lord said simply. Cody nodded, accepting Jarran's pledge. It was all happening just like before…

"What made you come around?"

"Things have been…" Jarran trailed off for a couple of seconds as he looked for the right word, "…off."

"What do you mean?"

"At the hotel, the twins recognized me by my name. Then I met Lily and she told me everything that happened in the future. She told me about you and I soon realized that we did indeed have an extra Champion of Earth running around. And lastly, when I saw the pendant around your neck…"

"The pendant, I didn't understand what you meant when you gave it to me," Cody admitted, touching it through his shirt to make sure it was still there.

"What did I say?"

"You told me to take it in case I ever lost all hope for the future." Jarran smiled knowingly as if he'd just heard a joke.

"What?"

"The other me, he must have known we'd meet each other again."

"I don't think that's what he meant," Cody said, frowning.

"If you'll allow me to demonstrate?" Jarran asked in a louder tone and Casius, who had been watching the exchange between the two young men, nodded his permission. A flicker of darkness rippled through Cody's consciousness as he felt Jarran draw upon a sliver of his power. He summoned his obsidian long sword and held it across his body so that Cody could easily see the flat of the blade. Previously hidden runes began to glow red, "Do you see it?"

At first the runes meant nothing to Cody, but then his vision blurred, refocused and he realized that the runes were letters. They spelled a word and he could read it as if it were written in plain English.

"Defiance?" Cody wondered.

"Defiance of thy father," Jarran mused as he put his left hand on the hilt along with his right and pulled the sword apart which left him wielding two short swords. Both of them had blazing runes on them, one spelled 'Defiance' while the other… "And 'Hope' for a better tomorrow."

"You can't seriously base your decision on that?" Cody asked, playing devil's advocate.

"I'm not, but somehow this just feels right." He dismissed his blades and powered down.

"So what's your plan?"

"I'm going to talk to my father one last time to see if I can change his mind." Jarran didn't sound totally convinced that he could do such a thing.

"Are you sure?"

"I have to try…"

"It's good to have you back," Cody said, clapping him on the shoulder, "You sure as hell gave Ashani a run for his money last time."

"What?" Jarran asked, confused by the slang.

"You almost beat him."

"Did I? Interesting… He has made it a point to pummel me every time he tests my strength," Jarran reflected, tapping his lips thoughtfully with an index finger.

"Maybe you saw it coming and made yourself stronger in those last two years?" Max interjected, not quite coming close enough to join them. She seemed a little edgy around the Child of Darkness all of a sudden.

"Perhaps," Jarran agreed, "Deimos and Pandora could have helped me a lot in two years time. But, make no mistake Cody," He paused meaningfully, "I am not THAT Jarran. My father can easily defeat me as I am now."

Cody nodded in understanding, but secretly he thought his rediscovered ally was underestimating himself. Jarran didn't seem to have anything more to say and so he slunk back into the shadows to resume watching them all. Max looked from him, to Cody and then back again before making up her mind to go and talk to the Demon Lord's son privately.

"Casius told us what you did," Code said in an even tone, "Thank you."

Startled, Cody looked down slightly to see his younger self standing before him. His brain came to a screeching halt as he attempted to switch gears from his productive discussion with Jarran to doing whatever he could to console Code.

"I'm so sorry…"

"No, don't be sorry. You didn't do anything wrong. Zack chose to fight to protect you, himself, me and everyone around us. He wouldn't want us to be mad or feel sorry for ourselves…" Code paused and for a long moment he stared at the floor. Then he looked back up, the fire burning in his eyes once again.

"I want to fight to make sure Zack won't have died in vain."

* * *

Zack juked left then right in the blink of an eye avoiding Kasen's blade. Elissa then interposed herself between them, caught Kasen's weapon between her shield and sword and trapped him momentarily. They exchanged wicked smiles before Kasen twisted his body and delivered a powerful scissor kick that knocked her down and freed up his sword arm. Zack was there to meet him.

"Too slow Zack," Kasen panted as they engaged in a fierce bout of swordplay, "You should have hit my flank when Elissa gave you the opportunity!"

"I didn't know she was going to do that!" Zack defended himself, pulling back to parry a few of his mentor's attacks trying to make him overreach and lose his balance. Kasen was too experienced to fall for that however and used the opportunity to fire a lance of white light into Zack's chest. A split second before it impacted the energy clashed with a thin film of golden light and was deflected away.

"He's not in synch with me Kasen," Elissa said as she returned to Zack's side, no worse for wear. The older White Knight sighed and lowered his blade.

"You're hopeless Zachary…"

"Hey I'm trying!"

"If you can't link with your fighting partner, you're as liable to hit them as you are your enemy in close quarters and you definitely won't overcome a more powerful opponent."

"You don't know that," Zack shot back, angry at his failure to synch with Elissa. Kasen's expression turned ugly. Apparently that had been the wrong thing to say.

"Kasen don't!" Elissa cautioned as his power rose higher.

"He needs to be taught a lesson."

"Bring it," Zack taunted, thoroughly annoyed.

Kasen brought it alright. Seconds later he was relentlessly attacking Elissa who fended him off with ease. Zack tried to counter-attack his mentor, but was either met with a hailstorm of retaliatory attacks or was simply too slow to hit Kasen. Then the older White Knight was on him, raining blow after blow down upon Fortitude, showering Zack with sparks as his blade vibrated wildly under each impact.

In a matter of seconds Zack was disarmed, but Elissa saved him by pushing back their opponent. She used her shield to great effect knocking Kasen backwards through the air, but he just kept on coming back to nip at her flanks and wear her down. Zack tried once again to help out and was brutally struck down with the flat of Kasen's blade. He gritted his teeth as pain radiated from a point just below his shoulder blades where the protective armor he wore failed to absorb the hit.

Elissa crashed down next to him as Kasen dropped low and swept her legs out from underneath her. The point of his sword shot out and held fast just above her neck, effectively defeating her. Then Kasen placed his foot on Zack's breastplate and shoved him flat against the ground.

"You're both dead," Kasen said calmly, then he glared at Zack, "Had this been a real fight, Cody would have died just like Ryen."

* * *

Minutes later after they had all cooled off, Zack found himself being examined by Elissa for any serious injuries. When she found none, she laid out flat on her back in the grass at the center of the training arena they had used today and stretched out. Kasen was standing off to the side, apparently lost in thought.

"So who's Ryen?"

"Kasen's twin brother," Elissa answered quietly.

"I remember you told me about him…"

"Yes, but what I didn't mention was that they were having a major disagreement just before we were attacked. They were both so annoyed with each other that even in the heat of battle, they refused to synch together and Ryen paid the price for their stubbornness with his life. Kasen's never forgiven himself for that."

"I hope that never happens to me and Cody…" Zack trailed off, watching the sky change from blue to gold as the sun began to set on Haven.

"That's exactly why Kasen tries so hard with you. He sees himself in you sometimes and he doesn't want you to experience the pain that he went through. Heck, he's even jealous of you."

"Jealous of me?" Zack wondered in astonishment.

"The White Knight and Truth Seeker have a very powerful relationship. One cannot bear living without the other."

"Then how does he keep going?"

"The Truth Seeker was reborn after Ryen died and we found him again after several years. Ever since then Kasen's been like a big brother to him, always watching out for the little guy and teaching him all about his powers."

Zack suddenly became aware of someone running towards them at a dead sprint and he and Elissa sat up to watch as a teenager around his own age skidded to a halt. The young man had a mop of dirty blond hair and wore golden clothing similar to what Elissa wore when she wasn't training with Zack.

"Speak of the devil. Zack, this is Niou the Truth Seeker," Elissa introduced him, then in a more authoritative tone asked, "Shouldn't you be attending to your studies young man?"

"Kasen, Elissa…The Realm of Time is attacking. Athena has already left, she sent me to get both of you," Niou said breathlessly.

"Time has such a bad sense of timing," Elissa joked as she got to her feet and joined Kasen, "We'd better get going partner."

"Zack, continue training. Casius will come get you when he's ready," Kasen instructed, "Niou."

"Yes?"

"Work on synching with Zachary while we're gone."

"No problem. Good luck out there!"

Then they were both gone in a flash of light and Zack was left alone with Niou who peered at him curiously.

"Sup?" Zack asked.

"Not much. You?"

"Getting my ass kicked by Kasen."

"Ah. I know the feeling."

* * *

**A/N:** Well here is Chapter 19 at last, one of my many problem children in the story, helped along by our very own WaldoJeffers who beta read it for me which resulted in the addition of over a thousand words expanding on most all of the scenes.

Cody awakens to find his true love by his side at last and the two share a playful reunion together which is cut short by the threat of the impending invasion. The planning is underway and it seems as though Jarran is finally on their side at last, though he still wishes to make one last attempt to stop his father without resulting to further violence. Meanwhile Zack is hard at work fighting against Kasen, though he is having trouble figuring out how to synch with his partner.

Will Haven's Truth Seeker be able to help Zack learn the important skill before he is needed on Earth? What will happen when Jarran confronts his father at last with the knowledge he has gained from Cody and Lily? Is the Earth truly ready for what it is about to endure? Stay tuned as we come to the final chapters!


	22. Invasion

**Chapter Twenty**

**"Invasion"**

**_September 6th_**

Feeling as though he was in a dreamlike trace, Cody Martin exited the car and stepped out onto the sidewalk a block south of the Tipton Hotel. Overhead the sky was shrouded by ominous gray clouds and thunder boomed in the distance. A warm breeze snaked through the maze of tall buildings bringing with it a hint of coming rain. Despite all of the normal daily activity, the sounds of Boston seemed drowned out by an encroaching ominous silence.

"Not long now…" Taschen commented as he glanced warily at the sky.

Casius had told them Earth's defenses were failing fast and that there was nothing he could do to shore them up. The Chaos Realm could break through at any time, bringing with it an endless horde of Demons and their masters who would be at their full strength at last. He had sent them all to the spot where the enemy would break through.

The line would be drawn here.

"I feel it…" Cody commented, casting his eyes around street before settling at the intersection just ahead of him. There was a mini-market on the corner where he and Zack had worked at for a time. He missed their petty fights and arguments while they were on the job together.

"Have our forces evacuate the area Lord Altair. This is ground zero," Taschen ordered. The Commander of the Paladins nodded wordlessly and began issuing orders to his subordinates who then started spreading the instructions to their fellow Paladins and the Warriors of the 3rd Army of Light.

All throughout the immediate area, armored men and women exited cars, trucks and SUV's parked on the streets of downtown Boston. They quickly gathered their armaments, a combination of melee weapons, hand guns, assault rifles and sub machine guns and spread out scattering frightened civilians. In short order most of the innocent bystanders had been chased off by the sight of so many people wielding that much firepower.

"Code, Max, you two will stay at Lord Altair's side. The Paladins will form our front lines with the Warriors backing them up. Do not under any circumstances engage a Champion of Chaos. You won't survive them," Taschen said softly.

"Right," Code acknowledged, a glint of cold fire burning in his eyes. He was ready to exact his own personal measure of revenge upon the Demon horde for what their compatriots had done to Zack.

"Where the hell is Casius?" Cody grumbled as he felt the ground start to shake beneath his feet.

"He'll be here. I hope."

Cody glared at Taschen, wondering what he meant by that and was just about to say something when he felt the air pressure drop. The warm moist breeze turned into a dry bone chilling howl that seemed to suck the life out of his body. Cracks ran down the black asphalt, spreading outward in a circular pattern from the intersection. Glass windows shattered into dozens of shards and crashed down onto the roofs of parked vehicles setting off car alarms all around them.

As it had many times before, the presence of the darkness made itself known as its deadly power washed over his body. All Cody's memories of ever having been happy or in love seemed to slip right through his fingers as he tried so desperately to hold onto them. Animal instincts of dread, terror and fear mixed together into a dangerous combination that threatened to overwhelm his self control…

"Here it comes!" Cody shouted to his allies.

"Ready now!" Altair thundered as the air rippled above the intersection and the dim light in the streets grew even darker. Flashes of blue and purple light arced wildly around a rapidly expanding vortex of darkness, making the assembled army take an involuntary step back.

Four points of brilliant golden light flared to life like supernovas as the Children of Light harnessed their gifts and brought their power levels to their full strength, forcing the shadows to recede slightly. A roar of rushing wind and raw energy filled Cody's ears as the gateway into the Chaos Realm yawned opened and hundreds of Demons poured out of it onto Earth. The Paladins buckled down into their phalanx formations and shouted their battle cries as the beasts slammed into their lines.

The battle for Earth had begun.

* * *

"There's a Champion coming through!" Taschen yelled the warning over the din of battle. Cody needed no warning though. He felt it plain as day.

All around them was a seething mass of humanity struggling to keep the Demon horde from spreading. As it stood right now, most all of the invaders were completely encircled by the Paladins and the soldiers from the 3rd Army of Light. Somewhere out there the Paladin's leader, Altair, was directing the flow of battle with Max and Code at his side.

Cody steeled himself and then leapt into the air in pursuit of Taschen who had taken off in the direction of the gateway a split second earlier. They had to intercept the enemy Champion before he or she could do any damage to the front lines and separate them from the main battle before engaging in combat. Just as they reached the swirling vortex of darkness that was spilling out hundreds of Demons below them, the Champion of Chaos sailed through into Earth and immediately slammed his sword into Taschen's shield, twisted in midair in a mind numbing display of aerial acrobatics and scissor kicked the Guardian backwards. Cody veered away and rejoined Taschen.

"Shit. It's Kahna."

"Problem?" Cody wondered in a detached voice, concentrating on watching the Champion of Chaos survey the raging battle below before he turned his attention back to the two Children of Light. Just like all of the others, this man appeared in his mid twenties and had a shock of red hair so bright that it actually appeared orange. Icy blue eyes full of energy met Cody's gaze.

"He's wicked fast and strong too boot," Taschen explained, examining the dent in his kite shield warily.

"Flattery will get you nowhere Taschen," Kahna said to them, "Shall we?" He extended his arm offering them a chance to leave the immediate area in order to fight. Perfect, just what they had wanted anyway!

"We shall," Cody called back over the screams of dying men below him. It was starting to get ugly on the ground as the Demons gained numerical superiority and began pushing the forces of Light backwards through the city, stretching their lines out further and further.

The three of them flew a couple of blocks away to a deserted stretch of road lined by small business. A few vehicles remained in the area, most of them having been abandoned or wrecked when the invasion began, but fortunately there were no innocent bystanders in the immediate area.

"Where are your friends?" Taschen hissed, dropping into a defensive stance half shielding Cody behind him. They had talked this over and agreed that it would be best if Cody played the role normally assumed by an offensive based Child of Light while Taschen protected him.

"They'll be along soon," Kahna replied with a sheepish smile, "Is it true Chiam is dead?"

"Yes…" Cody muttered, readying his body as he caught the Champion shifting his weight in preparation for a forward lunged.

"Pity. I would have liked to kill him myself." With that said, Kahna leapt forward lighting quick, just as Cody had predicted. Taschen blocked with his shield and made a quick jab with his own sword Intrepid. Cody meanwhile flanked Kahna and tried to catch him in a pincer, but his enemy was too quick to be caught by it. Kahna executed a perfect ten aerial back flip and ended up behind Cody!

Searing heat exploded across Cody's shoulder blades and his vision went white with pain. Something heavy slammed into him and threw him off his feet. Cody didn't even feel the impact of the hard concrete or notice he had hit so hard that he'd bounced once denting his chest plate. He lay sprawled out on the ground and didn't move as the heat consumed his body.

* * *

Two blocks away Code and Max were fighting for their lives as they continually fell back with the rest of the soldiers and Paladins. To be completely fair though, their line was still fairly well intact with the strength of the two young Children, Altair and his personal body guards, but everywhere else the lines were crumbling.

"Can't we seal the gateway somehow?" Code shouted to Altair as he backed up, slinging sphere after sphere of light into the leading edge of Orcs as if they were baseballs. One of Code's attacks slammed into a Demon that was too close for comfort, hurled it backwards and exploded in a shower of sparks that rained down upon its fellow creatures. Where the sparks touched, they seared Demon flesh and forced them to slow their advance as they howled in pain.

"Once it's opened…we must have…the balance of…power to seal it!" Altair replied in halting breaths as he grappled with an Orc that had gotten too close to him. Seconds later he threw the dead Demon off of him and looked around to take stock of the situation. It was pretty grim.

"How'd you do that?" Max yelled over the din of battle from Altair's other side. She too had fallen back onto energy attacks. There were too many enemies for her to take on in close quarters with her limited sword skills. She was talking about Code's makeshift firework attack.

"I have no idea!" He replied in exasperation.

"Sir!" An aide shouted as he raced up behind Altair, "The Demons have broken through our lines everywhere but here!" Altair's body guards moved in front of their Commander to give him a respite.

"We must hold them here then. Have our remaining troops converge on this position. Any news of reinforcements?" The aide spoke into the headset he wore relaying Altair's instructions to the front line commanders before answering.

"The 4th Army has already redeployed most of its forces to North America. Two hours, maybe more."

"We barely have two minutes let alone two hours!" Altair seethed angrily.

Code suddenly jerked his head towards the gateway as he felt overpowering dread and terror grip his consciousness. This feeling was stronger than any he had ever felt before. It could mean only one thing…

"Ashani's coming."

* * *

**A/N: **O_o

Ashani's coming! Oh noes!

Max and Code are getting overwhelmed on the front lines and Cody is down for the count.

It's only a matter of time now...


	23. Call To Arms

**Chapter Twenty One**

**"Call To Arms"**

Zack was dozing peacefully during the midday hours on Haven, his thoughts drifting between concern for the planets of Earth and Haven and strange dreams of an apocalyptic future when something nearby jolted him awake. He'd been resting in preparation for the coming battle on Earth tomorrow and he wondered what could possibly be disturbing him right now. Whatever it was, it was powerful and full of light energy.

He sat up as there was a knock on his door and then without waiting for permission, it opened to admit Casius. But this wasn't the same old grandfatherly beach bum that Zack had gotten used to seeing. The Realm Lord of Earth looked twenty years younger and he was encased in his own protective armor of pearly white plates with gold highlighting just like Zack's.

"Casius?"

"It's time Zachary."

"But… I thought we had another day!" Zack protested as he jumped out of bed and onto his feet. Despite all of his training and newfound confidence, he still felt so far out of his league. How could he possibly fight against men with Casius's power and live?

"We do not. The others are on the front line as we speak, including your brothers and they may already be in combat."

"Ok, let's go then…" Zack relented, his concern for Cody overriding his fear and self doubt. He caught Casius giving him an amused glance and frowned.

"What?"

"Perhaps you'd like to get dressed before we go?" Zack glanced down at himself, noticing he was clad only in his boxers.

"Erm…yeah…"

* * *

"Ugh…what happened?" Cody groaned as Taschen helped him to his feet.

"I told you he was fast," Taschen replied in a mock condescending tone. Then it all came flooding back to Cody. He'd been hit dead center in the back by Kahna's surprise negative energy attack and then Taschen had rammed him out of the path of the energy beam just in time, deflecting the remainder of it with his shield. A split second longer of exposure and Cody's armor would have failed him completely. As it stood now he only had a nasty sunburn on his back to worry about.

"Where is he?"

"Over there licking his wounds," Taschen pointed to the top of a three story building half a block away where Kahna stood glaring daggers at them, cradling his limp left arm, "I tagged him with a beam as you went down."

"Nice… I feel so worthless though," Cody muttered angrily, hating how easy he'd been bested.

"Don't be. He's hella fast. Casius is faster though," Taschen boasted with a wink.

Without any warning a ripple of despair intruded upon Cody's thoughts and his head involuntarily turned in the direction of the gateway to the Chaos Realm. Something powerful was approaching the event horizon and about to cross through into their Realm. Taschen and Kahna were both looking in the same direction, their attentions drawn to the unbelievable force of darkness.

"I've felt this before," Cody said sourly as everything darkened around him. The temperature plunged, the air grew thin, the sun overhead disappeared behind a wall of black clouds and what little light remained seemed to get pulled into the swirling vortex, "It's Ashani…"

"We've got to stop him before he makes it through!" Taschen breathed, tightening his grip on his armaments and then sprinting forward. The air around them crackled with energy, thunder boomed overhead, all sounds were drowned out by a roar of noise that rose rapidly in pitch and then the gateway wobbled as it grew larger.

Cody followed behind Taschen, but they only covered half of the distance before Kahna cut them off, using his mind numbing speed to force them to stand back to back in order to protect each other from a frenzy of swipes. Two shapes materialized from a thick cloud of black smoke slithering out of the vortex and resolved themselves into the forms of two tall men in the black clad armor all the Champions of Chaos wore. Kahna broke off his attack as quickly as he'd started it and joined his companions.

The older of the two Cody didn't recognize, but he could never forget the face of the younger looking man. Ashani Noh'Malkiri, Demon Lord of the Chaos Realm, looked around at the destruction in satisfaction. He then glared questioningly at Kahna and the wound on his shoulder, before noticing the two Children of Light approaching slowly, carefully.

"Ah, Guardian Taschen Enders and Truth Seeker…" Ashani paused briefly in thought, "Cody Martin? Am I correct?"

Cody shuddered at hearing his name spoken by evil incarnate and said nothing. Despite his hatred of this man, fear crept into his thoughts. Together he and Taschen would barely be a match for Kahna, let alone Ashani and the older man who bore a striking resemblance to Chiam, both of whom emanated great power. If there was ever a time when he needed a miracle, now was it.

"Surrender yourselves and I'll make your deaths quick and painless." Ashani offered, his arms spread wide in a false gesture of friendship and a fake smile gracing his lips.

"Never!" Cody and Taschen said together. They stepped closer to each other, shoulders touching. Static electricity raced back and forth across their armor from being in close proximity to one another. Cody's heart hammered in his chest, this was it. This was the end. He would finally die, putting an end to his futile attempt to avert disaster.

"So be it…" Ashani said with an exasperated sigh as he summoned his own deadly blade. Jarran had called it 'Dominance', an aptly named weapon for the Demon Lord. Its midnight black surface wasn't polished to a highly reflective sheen like Jarran's sword 'Defiance' however; Ashani's weapon looked to be permanently stained with the blood of all his slain enemies.

The Demon Lord took one step towards them…

…then a second step.

Cody jumped in surprise as a sonic boom went off behind and above him, the sound making his ears pop painfully. Tremors shook the ground beneath his feet and then the vibrations from the noise rippled through his body making it tingle all over. He looked over his shoulder in time to see ripples of energy scatter the darkness as a gateway made of golden light yawned open to admit two people clad in white armor.

The two newcomers soared gracefully over them and landed between the Demon Lord and the Children of Light. White light poured outward from them, holding the darkness around them at bay. Cody instantly felt reenergized with hope and confidence as he basked in the radiance of these two warriors and his own power seemed to regenerate to full strength. It felt so good. It was like being held in the arms of a loving parent after having a bad nightmare.

"That's far enough Ashani!" Casius bellowed, standing tall and proud before evil incarnate. Cody blinked, having not realized who he was looking at until they spoke. Earth's Realm Lord looked decades younger than he had the last time Cody had seen him, his grey hair had turned a healthy shade of golden brown and he looked more fit than the grandfatherly man who had introduced him to his family days before. Most important of all, Cody could feel that Casius's power matched Ashani's. Maybe they had a chance after all.

He turned his attention to the other warrior with Casius. This young man stood a foot shorter than Casius, barely average height for his age and the white light of his aura turned his hair from blond to platinum depending on the angle it was seen from. Cody felt an instinctive pull to this person and realized that he had felt this person's energy before only days earlier…

"Zack?" Cody wondered, not daring to get his hopes up only to be crushed once again. Zack was dead and gone, the life having left his body while Cody held him in his arms. The platinum haired warrior looked over his shoulder and smiled.

"Hey Cody," His twin brother greeted. Cody barely dared to believe it! Zack was alive again? It was impossible… Unless Casius had something to do with it? His eyes didn't lie though, here was his twin standing before him alive and well…and so powerful. When had that happened?

Zack was with Casius, so he had to be real. This couldn't be a trick! Cody twitched involuntarily, wanting nothing more than to embrace his back from the dead brother, but knowing that he couldn't right now. There was still the threat of the Champions of Chaos and their Demon Lord to deal with.

"Zack," Casius prompted, "You and Cody pair up and fight Deimos." He indicated the older Champion of Chaos who had arrived with Ashani.

"No problem," Zack replied, stepping back to join Cody and Taschen. The twins glanced at each other, each sharing a look that conveyed so many unspoken words and emotions. Cody's look told Zack that he was bursting with joy at having his brother back while the older twins' conveyed a simple promise; _'I won't fail you'_.

"Taschen, do your best with Kahna. I will handle Ashani."

"Handle me will you?" Ashani scoffed, "We shall see." Weapons were summoned, power levels soared to new heights and everyone braced themselves for battle as the Demon Lord said one more thing before the fighting began.

"I have so looked forward to this moment."

Casius charged forward, Ashani mirrored him. Taschen leapt into the air to meet Kahna. Zack and Cody went wide around the Realm Lords to engage Deimos. The world held its' breath as all hell broke loose in the streets of downtown Boston.

* * *

**A/N:** Short and simple. A little goofy moment for Zack to ease the tension before heading into battle with Casius. Cody's no worse for wear either thanks to Tashcen's split second reactions.

The reunion between the twins might have seemed a bit short or rushed, but as my beta reader for this chapter (WaldoJeffers) said, this isn't the time or the place. There is a battle that needs to be fought.

That just leaves us with one missing element. Where is Jarran?

Find out in** Chapter 22: "Chaos Divided"**


	24. Chaos Divided

**Chapter Twenty Two**

**"Chaos Divided"**

_**A/N:** I now happily present my favorite masterpiece of a chapter, full of angst, hatred, feelings of betrayal and pure father vs son confrontation! Thanks for the beta read Tiger!_**  
**

**_September 6th_**

**_Two Hours Earlier…_**

"I will no longer tolerate you living here, plotting against me behind my back. When this business with Earth is over, you will either challenge me in a fight to the death for the position of Demon Lord or you will be forever exiled from all of Chaos's lands."

"I don't want to be Demon Lord!" Jarran protested vehemently, "Why can't you see that?"

"Prove it then. Leave my lands and never return."

Jarran pushed down his feelings of horror and abandonment as he listened to his father's words.

"I don't want to leave either… This is my home!"

"It WAS your home," Ashani said venomously, stressing the past tense, "Not anymore, not when you're planning against it. Now remove yourself from the Chaos Realm or prepare to battle me upon Earth's downfall."

"I will not go," Jarran said fighting back tears as he clenched his fists. After all this time, after everything he had done, he could hardly believe what his father was saying. Was he really worth that little to him?

"Then you will die."

The words hung heavy over Jarran as his mind processed his father's words. He was emotionally devastated, but beyond that his anger began to surge through him, quickly reaching its boiling point.

"Why not get it over with right now?" Jarran yelled, hatred lacing his voice. By this point he was well beyond thinking clearly. He spread his arms wide, leaving himself completely open to attack, almost daring Ashani to carry through on his threat. Ashani's hand twitched as if he were about to summon Dominance and his power briefly sparked before he relaxed.

Jarran saw the movement and knew then that his father was lost to him. He was serious. Ashani was mentally prepared to kill his own son.

"Foolish boy," Ashani remarked finally as he turned away, keeping his son in his peripheral vision for the moment in case he tried something. Jarran stood still, quivering with anger and resentment. He knew that he should just drop this whole matter and leave for Earth to stand with his new allies…but his emotions ran unchecked and his pride refused to let him just walk away.

"You're the fool!" Jarran spat at the Demon Lord.

Ashani turned back to face him very slowly, like a snake coiling itself tightly as it prepared to strike.

"Excuse me?" Never before had someone dared address Ashani in such a way, especially not his own flesh in blood.

"You heard me! You're a fool of a Demon Lord and a lousy father. No wonder mother couldn't stand to be with you!" He added that last part as a jibe to get a rise out of his father, or maybe some shred of useful information about her. He got the former.

In the blink of an eye, Ashani had grabbed Jarran by the collar of his shirt and held Dominance to his son's throat, the wickedly sharp blade drawing a thin line of blood with the slightest amount of pressure. Jarran had never seen his father move so fast.

"You will be silent."

It was a battle of wills as father and son stared hatefully into each other's eyes, Dominance still held against Jarran's neck. Would Ashani really kill his son now that he was only a fraction of an inch from severing the arteries in his neck? Would he even feel any sense of remorse once Jarran was dead?

On the other side of the battle, Jarran wondered what it would feel like to die. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to walk away from this alive. He knew going into this confrontation that there was a good chance he'd die here by his father's blade. At least if he were dead, he wouldn't be living alone any more, no mother or friends to be there for him, having only this poor excuse of a man for a father in his life.

Even so, the young prince remembered the things and people in his life that brought him joy. He wasn't completely alone. There was Deimos, who was more of a father to him than Ashani had ever been…Pandora, his surrogate mother and sole confident…Cody and Lily on Earth who had quickly warmed up to him after he'd offered to help. Were those last two just being friendly because he was offering his help or did they genuinely like him? Jarran didn't know, but he wouldn't mind having a chance to find out. Then there was Max. Even though he'd lied to her and set her up to help him…there was something irresistible about that girl. He wanted a chance to get to know her better.

"Do it. Kill your son and be done with it," Jarran whispered quietly. He began shutting himself off from his emotions as his rebellious attitude began to take hold of him. He wouldn't give his father the pleasure of seeing him plea for his life. No, he was no longer merely one of his father's Champions, but the Prince of the world that he loved. How he wanted nothing more than to slam his fist into Ashani's face and draw blood in the name of everything he held dear…

Oddly enough, the soul stone around his neck began to grow hot. A strange energy washed over him, its warmth making his skin tingle. It calmed him instantly and cleared his thinking. Ashani's eyes widened and he let go of Jarran, stepping back and lowering his blade.

The Demon Lord's mouth worked as if he wanted to say something, but then he shrugged it off, turned and walked from the room without a word. Jarran let out the breath he hadn't realized that he had been holding and sat down heavily on the lowest bench of the tiered seating.

He placed his elbows on his knees, held his head in his hands and pulled at his white blond hair until it hurt. What was he going to do? He couldn't run, he couldn't kill Ashani and if he fought with the Children of Light he would be betraying his own people. Jarran fought back tears as he felt his emotions begin to return to the surface, shredding his insides and leaving him feeling hollow and weak. He needed to remain strong and think of a way out of this mess. It was his only chance.

A single drop of blood fell from his neck and made a soft splattering noise in the stony silence of the war room as it hit the marble floor. Jarran touched the small cut and examined the warm sticky blood staining his fingertips. His blood…a blending of Ashani's and some unknown woman that Jarran was sure he'd never meet in his life.

He had his father's strength and his mother's looks, or so he'd been told, but what if he had more from her? Many people throughout his life always remarked how different he was from all the other Champions of Chaos. Sure, he had the lust for personal strength like all of them and a keen intelligent mind thanks to Pandora and Deimos's teachings, but despite all of the influences in his short life there was one rare quality that he possessed which went unaccounted for.

Jarran was kind at heart.

Perhaps this was his mother's genes coming out in him. Maybe that explained why he found it so easy to make friends, especially with the Earth Realmers, but his kindness was always obscured by his identity. People knew him as the son of the Demon Lord and feared him because of his father, never bothering to take the time to really get to know him…

His thoughts spun aimlessly in orbit around his mind. He needed to focus, but clarity kept slipping out of his reach… He grabbed the pendant about his neck and breathed deeply, unable to believe what he was about to say.

"Mom…What do I do?" he asked in a whisper.

"You follow your heart, as you've always done," a voice answered, startling Jarran out of his funk. He glanced up to see Pandora step out of the shadows from behind one of the massive pillars holding up the roof. Had she been there the whole time? Had she seen and heard everything that had passed between him and Ashani?

"What are you doing here Pandy?" Jarran winced as he unconsciously called her the childhood nickname he'd given her when he was too young to say her name properly.

"I was worried your father might hurt you. You looked like you were on the warpath when you returned from Earth."

"I guess I was…" Jarran said shaking his head, knowing he'd let his emotions cloud his judgment. While he couldn't condone what his father was doing, the way he tried fixing it nearly cost him his life.

"You should become the Demon Lord. Your father will lead us to ruin at this rate," Pandora said bluntly, bringing him back on topic. Jarran shook his head.

"I will not kill him. I will not be like him," He replied, remembering Deimos's tale from many years earlier about how Ashani had challenged his own father for power when the former Demon Lord had begun to make questionable decisions. Pandora smiled as if he'd made a joke.

"Funny, when you were younger all you wanted to do was be like him."

"Look where that got me," Jarran muttered sourly as he held is hands out in regret, feeling sandwiched between two intangible futures.

"Shhh," Pandora silenced him, pressing a finger to his lips, "No more talk. You will become our Demon Lord by denying your father the strength of his Champions."

"Letting the Children of Light do the dirty work you mean?" Another voice interjected as its owner stepped from behind another pillar. It was Nevian Cesparin, another of the Chaos Realm's Champions. Had all of them snuck in here to listen to the exchange between Ashani and Jarran?

"Such an eloquent way of putting it," Pandora said dryly, sizing up the younger Champion, "Will you be telling all of this to Ashani?"

"I do have one thing to say…" Nevian trailed off as he approached them. Pandora tensed, ready to protect Jarran if necessary. It proved to be an unnecessary gesture of her support however as Nevian placed his right fist over his heart and bowed.

Champions of Chaos bowed to no one other than their Demon Lord.

"My strength is yours Prince Jarran, if you'll have me."

Jarran looked from Nevian to Pandora in surprise. He hadn't expected anything like this when he'd returned to the Realm. He had been ready to die or return to Earth and betray his father. Never in a million years could he have dreamed of gaining the support of his fellow Champions in a bid for power.

Was this really happening? Could they really do this?

"But my father…we can't…"

"We need not kill him, just stand by and let him fight his own misguided battle."

"Why the sudden support for Jarran?" Pandora asked skeptically. It was unthinkable for the Champions of Chaos to question the orders of their Demon Lord.

"Because you are right my lady. It IS time for a change," Nevian said, then he recovered from his overly long bow and looked straight into Jarran's eyes. There was no hint of deception in his light brown eyes, only determination, "Jarran is powerful, intelligent, responsible, and he has just proven that he has a backbone. That is what we need in our ruler"

"If you had not stood up to your father like you did, I wouldn't have offered you my support," Nevian finished, directly addressing Jarran.

His head swam as he struggled to take in everything that was happening and weigh all of the consequences of his actions…

"Can this really work?" He asked.

"You have the love of our people, the two of us, and I think I can swing my father over to our side," Pandora answered, though she paused, thinking about Deimos., "Though I think dear old dad might want a bit of revenge upon Chiam's killer first." She looked to Nevian for his opinion.

"We won't know until we try," he agreed, "What do you say my Prince?"

Jarran sighed, feeling as though his world were coming to an end as it crashed heavily and rather painfully down upon his shoulders. His life would never be the same when this was over. If their plan worked, things would be much better, his realm could live without the constant threat of war, but if he failed…he couldn't imagine the consequences. He couldn't visualize either outcome. Still… If there was a chance this could work…

Follow his heart…

His heart was tied to the Chaos Realm, to a few individuals on Earth he hoped to someday call his friends and a girl named Max who he hoped to call more than just a friend.

"Let's do it."

* * *

**A/N:** That'a boy Jarran! He stood up to his father and when his attempt to reason with him failed, he knew what had to be done. Jarran will not allow his father to take the Chaos Realm down with him in a blaze of glory.

One begs to wonder if Ashani knew just how fragile the loyalties of his Champions to him were. With Pandora and Nevian standing with our young Prince, they effectively remove half of Ashani's invading Champion force. That leaves us to wonder which way Deimos and Kahna will turn when they all finally meet on Earth.

The end is about to begin, stay tuned for **Chapter 23: "All Or Nothing"**

**_I know I don't say this enough, but here goes! Tiger, Wyntirsno, WaldoJeffers and OwlHero, thank you for sticking with the story the whole way through and reviewing each chapter (as well as the recent Beta's). It really helps give me that push to keep going and finish the fight! I am really eager to get started on Black Knight, but I won't until this is done._**


	25. All Or Nothing

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

**"All Or Nothing"**

Zack intercepted Deimos first, their blades flashing in wild flurry of motion as they passed each other. Not giving Deimos a second to rest, Cody jumped at the Child of Darkness, deflecting several blows with his shield as he shouldered past the Champion. They all spun around to face each other, but before they could continue their battle they were blown off their feet as Ashani and Casius went at it creating a whirlwind of explosions. Tumbling through the air, Zack spread his arms and legs out as he unconsciously readjusted his aura for flight and steadied himself ten feet off the ground.

He looked around and spotted Cody off to his left, the younger twin's back pressed up against the windows of an expensive looking high-rise apartment building. Zack glanced around wildly, but Deimos was nowhere to be seen. He tried sensing the darkness emanating from the champion, but Ashani's raw power masked everything else. How could he have disappeared so quickly? Where had the wily old Champion gone in the seconds they had been disoriented?

Zack soon got his answer as the window behind Cody exploded outward in a shower of safety glass and he was pulled inside an apartment with a yelp of surprise.

"Cody!" Zack shouted as he rocketed towards the opening in the building, perhaps a bit too fast for his own good. He landed heavily, stumbled forward with his excess momentum and flipped forward over a leather couch before finally coming to rest on top of a glass coffee table that compacted beneath him. Dazed, Zack glanced up at the ceiling and saw a poster depicting a demented looking penguin holding a butcher's knife in an improbable flipper grip. The caption read, "Killer Penguin's Rule!"

What kind of people lived here?

Wait, what was he doing?

Cody!

Zack clambered back onto his feet and shook his head clear. He quickly located the path of destruction left by his brother's struggle with Deimos, followed it out into the hallway and into the stairwell.

"Cody where are you?" He sensed his twin's presence nearby, but just as Ashani's power was masking Deimos, Casius was having the same effect on Cody's.

Cody answered as he sailed down from several floors above, sending lances of golden light back up the stairs before landing next to Zack.

"Right here."

Without warning, the entire building jumped upward, tilted and then came crashing down as it imploded. Cody grabbed Zack with his right hand and pulled him close, holding his shield over both of them as interlocking plates of golden light surrounded them in a sphere.

The apartment complex collapsed all around them as their auras held them suspended in midair with the upper floors bouncing off Cody's bubble shield. It seemed like it took forever for the imploded building to come to rest and when it finally did they found themselves buried under layers of building materials. From somewhere nearby came a muffled laugh.

The sound grated on Zack's nerves and he immediately went from annoyed at this turn of events to being completely pissed off. He raised a hand and drew light energy into his hand.

Cody gave him a questioning look. "What are you-"

He never got to finish as the debris pile exploded outward in a blinding flash of white light accompanied by a loud thunderclap.

Zack rose upward as bits of building material scattered in his wake and he turned towards the source of the laughter. Deimos was only toying with them and Zack was tired of messing around. It was time to get serious.

"You got my back Codes?" Zack asked as he concentrated, slipping into the trance-like state he'd practiced with Niou and feeling the link with his brother establish itself. With the sync now complete, he gained Cody's spatial awareness on top of his own and was able to sense exactly what Cody planned to do before he did it.

"Yeah," Cody replied as he joined him in the air.

"Let's show him the power of the twin terrors!" Zack exclaimed, a small smirk touching the corners of his lips.

He sailed forward to engage Chiam's father with Cody hot on his tail. As the distance between them decreased, Zack pushed aside his self-doubt and concentrated on the black clad figure beckoning him to attack while Kasen's advice rang through his head like a mantra. _'If you doubt yourself and your abilities then you have already failed.'_

Zack intentionally came up short in his movement and probed Deimos' defenses by launching several quick and indecisive strikes against him. The wily Champion effortlessly blocked his sword every single time and in doing so revealed a potential weakness. Deimos was a larger man and as such, he wasn't quite as nimble when it came to protecting his flanks.

Feinting an overhead swing Zack immediately rotated his wrist, rolled his shoulder and turned his aborted attack into a vicious side cut. Deimos turned away from Fortitude's edge and it glanced harmlessly off his armor, though it imparted a great deal of kinetic force into him. The speed and strength and Zack's side cut had startled him causing him to glare at the young Child of Light.

Momentarily distracted, Zack nearly missed the blur of motion that was Deimos's own sword slicing down at him in an overhead cut. He juked sideways through the air and turned away at the last second as the obsidian blade passed by perilously close behind him. However, this left Zack's back exposed to the Champion leaving him a prime target to a follow up attack, but then Cody moved between the two discouraging any such thing.

Cody threw all of his strength into his left arm as he slammed his shield into Deimos's chest and knocked him back through the air before pursuing in an attempt to keep him off balance by getting up in the Champion's face. As Deimos fought against the sudden pressuring attacks by Cody, Zack slipped around the man's side and launched an attack from behind.

The Truth Seeker broke off contact just before Zack connected. Without warning, the Champion of Chaos moved ever so slightly and trapped Fortitude between his left arm and chest plate without even bothering to turn around. Pain exploded across the White Knight's midsection as Deimos delivered a bone shattering elbow to his torso armor denting it severely.

Zack spun away weaponless as he sensed a retaliatory attack coming just barely managing to dodge it in time. Deimos tossed Fortitude aside and the sword burst into a shower of white sparks in preparation to return to its master. He never had the chance to summon it however.

A torrent of negative energy raced away from Deimos, the air crackling around it as it passed by. Zack's pupils constricted, partly from the brilliance of the neon red light and partly from fear. In less than a second, the young man realized that Deimos's attack was traveling too fast for him to evade and it contained all of the dark power the older Champion could handle.

He landed heavily on the ground intending to make one last ditch effort to block the attack, but lost his balance as the massive overpressure of displaced air preceding the attack hit him and caused him to fall over backwards. A cold sweat broke out on Zack's forehead and he gulped in fear as the neon red light filled his world.

_'I'm going to die here…'_ He thought.

The torrent of negative energy impacted with incredible force, throwing out hurricane force winds that sent Zack sliding across the asphalt away from the point of impact. Strangely, there was no pain. He looked up warily, squinting his eyes as he did so, to find out what had happened.

Cody had happened.

"AHHH!" The twin from the future roared in defiance as he pushed back against the staggering force of Deimos's energy. Cody stood with his right leg braced behind him and his kite shield presented towards the Champion of Chaos. Negative energy crashed against Cody's bubble shield and was deflected away into nearby buildings tearing them to pieces, but the center-most portion continued to drill against his barrier of golden light energy. He wouldn't last long.

Zack rolled forward onto his feet and raced to his brother's side, throwing his own white light into Cody's barrier in order to reinforce it. Unfortunately, playing defensively wasn't Zack's strong suit. The twins began to feel their flesh heat up as the negative energy started to shred Cody's barrier before it slammed against his physical shield with alarming speed.

The force of the blow knocked Cody down onto his right knee, but he managed to keep his left arm raised to protect them. Only Cody's kite shield, deflecting the majority of the energy away from them, now stood between them and death. If it failed to hold together, their auras wouldn't be strong enough to protect them.

"I'm sorry!" Cody yelled over the rush of energy. Tears began to build up in the corners of his eyes and he gritted his teeth as his shield began to buckle. He'd failed everyone. Zack fell right in front of his eyes because he was too weak. In a miracle he couldn't understand, his brother was back and he had another chance, but just like always he was too weak to stop Chaos. It was over.

They were going to die in a matter of seconds.

They'd broken their promises to keep each other safe, but at least they could take some small consolation in the fact that they would be facing the end together.

Then, with absolutely no warning at all, the flow of negative energy stopped. Cody pitched forward in surprise as he was met by an abrupt lack of force pressing down upon him. Zack reached out and steadied him before they looked upward at their enemy. They both stared in surprise as they found a hand extended towards them and a familiar face framed by white blond hair and deep green eyes peering back at them.

"Miss me?" Jarran asked as he helped Cody to his feet. Relief flooded through Zack at the sight of their newfound ally, but there was still one thing worrying him.

"Deimos?"

"Will take no further part in this battle," Jarran explained, nodding his head towards his uncle who now stood on the ground a dozen feet away from them talking heatedly with two Champions of Chaos Zack had never seen before.

Cody started in surprise as he caught sight of Pandora, jerking backwards away from Jarran involuntarily. The young Child of Darkness followed his gaze.

"She's with me."

"I hope so…" Cody muttered warily, "She killed me in the future."

Jarran raised an eyebrow questioningly, unintentionally mirroring Zack's confused expression.

"Jarran? Pandora? What the hell!" Kahna interrupted as jogged over to the other champions. The lighting quick Champion of Chaos was pretty banged up from his fight with Taschen. Zack looked around and saw the Guardian limping towards them, obviously hurt, but still alive.

"We're no longer letting Ashani sacrifice his champions in an futile attempt to conquer Earth," Pandora declared.

"Futile? We're winning this battle." Kahna pointed out. Jarran looked pointedly at Cody.

"I come from two years into the future, where Chaos almost won, but in the end it was all for nothing," Cody said, "Except for me, Earth's Champions were all wiped out."

"If what you say is true, then how was it all for nothing?"

"Because you were all wiped out as well," Cody answered, then pointed at Nevian, Kahna and Deimos, "I never saw you three and I can only imagine that Casius took you down before he died. I killed Chiam and Pandora myself while Ashani killed Jarran, but was mortally wounded in doing so."

"But why would he do that?" Kahna asked in shock, "It doesn't make any sense."

"It makes sense if you remember how Ashani came to power as Demon Lord," Pandora answered.

"Seeing as how Jarran is more powerful than any of us were at his age, for Ashani to delay such an act would only be increasing the perceived danger," Nevian added.

"You're the one responsible for my boy's death?" Deimos suddenly accused Cody, glaring at the Truth Seeker with a mixture of hatred and pain.

"Chiam died in a fair fight. I didn't resort to the coldblooded murderous tactics he used on my family." Deimos started forward, but Jarran stepped in between them and gave Cody a warning look.

"The invasion is over," Jarran said authoritatively, "There is to be no more fighting on our part."

Seeing that the Deimos had finally begun to power down, Kahna decided he wasn't going to give his life in a hopeless battle. "I'm with you then."

As Jarran proceeded to hastily explain his plan, Zack turned away as he realized something was amiss.

The distant reports of gunfire echoed through the streets as did the cries of the wounded and dying on both sides of the battle, but he discarded those sounds. Something else was bothering him, something he hadn't noticed since the fighting with Deimos began.

Rather, it was the lack of something he noticed.

The sounds of Ashani and Casius clashing could no longer be heard.

* * *

**A/N**: With Jarran's arrival, the Champions of Chaos are all standing down. Things are finally looking up for our hero's, but now Zack has noticed something very important. Why is there no sound coming from the two most powerful people on the planet clashing together?

Stay tuned for **Chapter Twenty Four: "_Sacrifice_"**


	26. Sacrifice

**Chapter Twenty Four**

**"Sacrifice"**

_Lyrics by Linkin Park's 'The Catalyst'_**  
**

Although the sounds of fighting between the Realm Lords of Earth and Chaos had died down, they were both still very much alive. Zack had been worried something bad had happened when he couldn't detect Casius's power. After a moment he finally dialed in on the older man's light and broke away from Cody's side. He was in a hurry because there was something very wrong.

Zack sensed that Casius's power had fallen well below his own…

He sprinted down a side street and back onto a main road, leaping over piles of debris, vaulting over destroyed vehicles and doing his best to avoid tripping over the wounded or dead.

As he turned down another street, Zack finally found them. Casius knelt on the ground, his right hand clamped over his left shoulder where a river of red flowed between his fingertips. Stalking towards him was none other than Ashani. The Demon Lord was sporting several bruises and cuts in his armor, but none as serious as Casius's injury.

Zack didn't even think as he leapt forward and launched himself at Ashani_. 'I am out of my mind!' _He caught the Demon Lord by surprise with one of Kasen's tricks, using Fortitude to block the hasty defensive swing of Dominance all the while he lined up his left hand on its target. Just before Zack spun away with his momentum his fist connected with Ashani's face. Blood exploded from the Demon Lord's nose and he brought up his free hand to staunch the flow.

Rather than buying them a respite as Zack had hoped, the surprise attack only seemed to infuriate Ashani and he attacked with wild abandon. Zack backed up as he had no choice but to block Ashani's retaliatory swing.

Pain lanced up Zack's arm to the shoulder as he caught Dominance with Fortitude and his knees buckled. Even injured and half blinded by his own blood, Ashani still hit with the force of a speeding freight train and Zack's bones and muscles just weren't used to that kind of punishment yet.

Then Zack felt himself get pushed out of the way as Casius returned to the fight and slammed his good shoulder into Ashani, sending the Demon Lord off balance. Even as Ashani recovered, he was already sending a lance of blistering red neon energy back in retaliation.

Casius tried to block it, but it was too much for him to handle in his weakened condition and the impact hurled him backwards. He yelled in agony as he landed on his injured shoulder. Ashani stalked forward, ready to finish off the Earth Realm Lord, but was stopped in his tracks as a barrier of golden light sprung up in front of him.

Ashani looked around and spotted the arrival of Cody and Taschen who were both channeling their energies into the barrier. Then the Demon Lord looked quizzically at Zack before he started to search for something. Spotting what he was looking for, Ashani took to the air and left them alone for a moment. Zack thought he heard the word, _'traitors',_ spoken as the Demon Lord left.

Taschen immediately went to work healing the Realm Lord's injuries, for he had more than just the obvious one on his shoulder. There were cracked ribs, broken bones and the Guardian feared there might even be some internal bleeding.

"Casius! What happens if I completely open myself to the light?" Cody asked hurriedly as he knelt beside the fallen Realm Lord.

"You'd die…That much power would tear you apart," Casius answered, catching the gleam in Cody's eye and realizing where the future twin was going with his line of questioning.

"Cody, what…?" Zack began to asked, but was waved to silence.

"I mean, what happens to all of the light?" Casius considered this for a moment, giving it some thought.

"The amount of energy you'd release would be enormous and without the influence of your soul controlling it, it would detonate just like your beam attacks do only with far more force than any person could survive…"

"Even Ashani?"

"Even Ashani." Casius agreed.

_God bless us everyone  
We're a broken people living under loaded gun_

The icy hand of dread gripped Zack's heart all of a sudden as he realized what Cody planned to do. The questions, the dangerous gleam in his eye and the lack of emotion in his voice could only mean one thing. He was going to sacrifice himself and take the Demon Lord down with him.

"You can't!" Zack protested vehemently, "We need you! I need you!"

"I came here to save the world and to save you," Cody replied, a far away gleam in his eye, "If this is what it takes to accomplish that, then I will do it."

"NO!" Zack ordered, reaching out and grabbing his twin by the top of his breastplate. The brothers stared into each other's eyes for a moment, conveying a wealth of emotions that no one else could have read in such a short time. Then Cody reached up and grabbed his hand; Zack tightened his grip, afraid that he'd lose Cody forever if he let go.

Unfortunately for Zack, Cody easily pried his hand open with the strength born of living in a brutal world for two years that he just couldn't match with his meager one week crash course on Haven.

"You have to let me go Zack," Cody said in a soothing tone, folding his brother's hand into his own and giving it a reassuring squeeze. Zack's vision blurred slightly as tears sprung from the corners of his eyes.

"No Cody, please! We'll find another way." His voice cracked with anguish.

"This is the only way."

_And it can't be outfought  
It can't be outdone  
It can't out matched  
It can't be outrun  
No_

"No…" Zack whispered, shaking his head unable to believe what his twin was saying.

"Take care of them for me," Cody said as he pulled his hand away from Zack's.

"Cody…"

"I love you bro. I always have and I always will," Cody said as he turned his back on his twin. Zack made up his mind in an instant and lunged forward trying to stop him from leaving. He was promptly thrown backwards as Cody's aura pulsed, catching him by surprise and then the Truth Seeker was gone. Then Taschen was there, throwing his arms around the White Knight in a bear hug to prevent him from following his twin.

"You'll be destroyed too!" When he felt the tension leave Zack's body, Taschen released his hold. Zack fell to his knees with a heavy sob, his hand outstretched towards his brother as if trying to pull him back.

_And when I close my eyes tonight  
To symphonies of blinding light_

Cody was a shining beacon in the oppressive darkness that rose gracefully upward towards the Demon Lord. His aura expanded far beyond its normal boundaries, its edges wavering like the heat coming off an asphalt road on a summer afternoon. His power no longer flowed into his body, instead it seemed to pulse in harmony with the beat of his heart, speeding up as he closed the gap with the man responsible for everything that had happened to him over the last two years. His heart pounded faster and faster in his chest as though it were trying to make up for the years of future life it would now never be able to provide.

_God bless us everyone  
We're a broken people living under loaded gun, oh  
Like memories in cold decay  
Transmissions echoing away_

The air warmed considerably and a loud humming noise dominated everyone's ears as Cody went far beyond the limits of his control over the light. His body began to vibrate so wildly that it put even the best massaging chair to shame as the light began to consume him.

As Cody rose through the air he saw the distant horizon where the sky met the ocean. The line between them blurred as everything started to glow with a golden radiance. Such a beautiful sight…

_Far from the world of you and I  
Where oceans bleed into the sky_

Ashani's eye's narrowed, at first in disbelief and then in fear as Cody closed with him. The Demon Lord attempted to shield himself, knowing that it was now too late to avoid the Child of Light. Cody slammed into him, sending both of them sailing backwards toward the ground and wrapped his arms around Ashani's body to prevent him from escaping.

The humming noise turned into a high pitched tone as cracks of golden light raced across Cody's armor and across his face almost as if he were a statue on the verge of coming apart. They continued their downward spiral and Ashani found himself staring into the blue green eyes of the Truth Seeker. They showed no signs of pain and never blinked or wavered. Cody's eyes bored into Ashani's soul as everything around them became obscured by golden light. Why Ashani didn't try to break free in his final seconds he would never understand. Perhaps he had just accepted that this was to be his end?

_God save us everyone,  
Will we burn inside the fires of a thousand suns?_

_For the sins of our hand  
The sins of our tongue_

Both of them slammed into the ground as the light finally broke free of Cody's body and poured into the world with all its pure raw energy. The darkness broke free of Ashani's body and together the two cosmic forces detonated in a thunderous explosion that shook the ground for hundreds of miles around. Everything went blank for a moment as every man, woman and Demon in Boston was thrown violently off their feet. Nearby buildings imploded or simply fell over. It felt like the world was coming to an end…

After what seemed like an eternity, everything finally settled down. An eerie silence fell over the city. All that remained of Cody and Ashani was a crater in the ground two city blocks wide.

_The sins of our father  
The sins of our young  
No_

Zack pushed himself onto his knees and stared at the spot he'd last seen his brother from the future. _'I could have stopped Cody! I should have stopped him!'_ He yelled inwardly to himself, but then he realized he would have done the exact same thing in Cody's place, _'I hesitated to act…He didn't and now our enemy is dead."_

From within the crater there came the sounds of brick and asphalt moving, as though they were tumbling down hill.

"It's over…" Taschen whispered in awe as he stared at the crater.

Or was it?

_God bless us everyone  
We're a broken people living under loaded gun  
And it can't be outfought  
It can't be outdone  
It can't out matched  
It can't be outrun_

_

* * *

_

**A/N:** R.I.P. Cody. Your heroism and your sacrifice will never be forgotten.

The battle for our world ends in **Chapter Twenty Five: "_Endgame_"**

Stay tuned.


	27. Endgame

**Chapter Twenty Five**

**"Endgame"**

Zack was frozen in shock and horror as Ashani pulled himself up out of the crater Cody had created with his sacrifice. The Demon Lord slowly hobbled towards the fallen form of Casius who was struggling to prop himself up. How could he have survived that explosion? Cody had given everything he'd had and more, opening himself to the entirety of the light right in front of the Demon Lord…

He wanted to do something to save Casius, but Zack was paralyzed by fear. If Ashani had survived everything Casius and Cody had thrown at him what chance did he have? In that moment of hesitation Kasen's words suddenly came back to the forefront of his thoughts_, "You will never become powerful if you refuse to kill and embrace what you were born to do. You will be brushed aside as though you weren't even there and everyone you care about will die because you were too weak minded to kill your enemies. Your brother will die because of you."_

Zack was dimly aware of someone interposing themselves between the two Realm Lords. Code stood protectively in front of Casius with his shield raised and Excalibur angled toward Ashani. The Demon Lord snarled as he summoned Dominance.

"Get out of my way runt!"

"No."

Ashani feinted forward causing Code to thrust forward prematurely. Excalibur bounced as it hit the ground and then skittered away, having been disarmed from its master. Code threw up his left arm just in time as Dominance came crashing down on top of him mangling his shield beyond usefulness. The kinetic energy imparted from Ashani's attack caused Code to spin as he fell over backwards and crashed to the ground face first. Neon green light appeared in his left hand as he pointed it towards the fallen twin who was completely exposed.

"NO!" Casius roared as he struggled to get up in vain.

"Code!" Zack cried in anguish. He had to do something, but there was no way he could close the gap between him and the Demon Lord in time.

Zack felt himself slipping, as though he were going down a water slide, completely out of control. He knelt down to steady himself and unconsciously rose Fortitude above his head in a reverse handed grip pointing forward. The heat of Ashani's attack washed past his shoulder…

Wait, how was that possible? He was almost a hundred feet away…

There was a horrible wailing noise that accompanied the scream of his twin brother.

A jarring thud passed through Zack's body as the feeling of slipping abruptly stopped. Something wet and warm splashed across his face. His eyes stung as his vision went red. He felt an ever increasing weight lean upon Fortitude, threatening to topple him over backwards.

With a start Zack realized that he knelt before Ashani, completely inside his defenses with Fortitude angled slightly upward into the Demon Lord's heart. He hadn't even realized that he'd moved. How had he gotten there so fast?

Dominance fell away from its master, hit the ground with a dull thud and dissolved into black smoke. Ashani grunted in pain as his steel gray eyes looked down to meet the hateful intensity of Zack's.

"How?" The Demon Lord whispered, blood spilling from the corners of his lips.

"Just die already!," Zack hissed before tugging backwards on his sword, pulling it out of Ashani's body. The Demon Lord grunted in pain, keeled over sideways and lay still as his presence rapidly diminished to nothing.

Zack stood and hurled Fortitude away angrily, disgusted with himself. His weakness had gotten Cody killed and his moment of hesitation had killed his twin a second time. He looked over at Code's body guiltily, seeing that a bruised and bloodied Max had already run to his side and was doing everything she could to heal him.

He knew her efforts were in vain however. Kasen had explained much about the different colors of Light and Darkness. Green was a combination of both cosmic forces that destroyed souls and without a soul to power the body, the person died within seconds. Code was lost to them.

A very dazed Taschen appeared in front of Zack, supporting Casius's weight.

"You…you…" Casius stuttered in what sounded like awe, "I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it!"

"See what?" Zack asked miserably, his mind far removed from his body.

"You just trans-located!" Casius exclaimed, "You moved from one point to another instantaneously!"

"Not fast enough," Zack mumbled, "Code's dead." He heard a sudden fit of coughing behind him.

"No…" Max said, her voice rising in excitement with each word, "He's not."

Shocked, Zack spun around as renewed hope blossomed within his chest. His eyes rested upon his twin brother who was just starting to sit up with Max's aide. Code's eyes found Zack's and he saw the spark of life shining brightly inside them. The older twin was on his knees beside his brother in seconds, wrapping him up in a loving embrace as they both started crying in happiness and relief.

"I don't understand…" Taschen whispered to Casius, "His soul should have been destroyed."

"It was," Casius replied, "But there was another Truth Seeker present to take its place."

"Surely you don't mean…"

"He came through time to save the world and get his brother back," Casius answered, "Cody's wish came true after all."

"What about Zack?"

"No one has trans-located since the days of my youth," Casius explained, his keen gaze resting on the twin brothers who had pulled apart from each other to talk softly, "Zachary may soon become the most powerful one of us all."

* * *

As Ashani died, the Champions of Chaos watched quietly, each of them lowering their heads in respect as the Demon Lord perished at the hands of Earth's White Knight, Zachary Martin. There was no greater way for one of them to die than in combat. Jarran was the only one among them who kept his head raised as he watched his father's body fall to the ground and lay still.

He knew that he should feel something for the man who had given him life, but he felt nothing at all. Ashani's passing lifted a weight from Jarran's shoulders and made him breathe easier. Perhaps if he'd died when Jarran was still a child, he might have been saddened, but not now that he knew his father's true motives and intentions.

All of his life Jarran had been trying to prove himself to a father that held nothing for him except distrust. Ashani had never intended for him to live beyond his teenage years… With Ashani gone, Jarran no longer felt his father's presence looming over him waiting for the young Child of Darkness to fail or make a fatal mistake. He was free at last…

Jarran felt his heart begin to race in his chest, his skin heated and he felt light headed. The power of darkness surged into his body without being summoned. He rose off the rooftop they all stood upon a few feet into the air as darkness wrapped itself around him like a thick blanket on the coldest of nights. For a single instant, Jarran felt the clarity that had eluded him for his entire life. His mind reached out and for that instant he knew all of the answers to his questions.

Abruptly the power faded away to nothing as it retracted back into the cosmic flow it had come from, taking with it the clarity of mind and the answers Jarran so desperately wanted to hold onto. He settled back onto the rooftop, breathing heavily and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"What was that feeling?" Pandora whispered in awe, looking at him questioningly. Deimos, his eyes closed as he savored the last vestiges of the rare experience he had felt only once before answered his daughter's question.

"Jarran is Demon Lord now."

* * *

**A/N: **In the end Cody sacrificed himself to bring about an end to the invasion. With Zack's last minute translocation, he was able to instantly appear inside Ashani's defenses and bring the old Demon Lord down once and for all.

The Champions of Chaos have stood down and in the wake of his father's demise Jarran has become Demon Lord himself. The battle is over and now it's time to pick up the pieces.

Stay tuned for the _**Epilogue**_.


	28. Epilogue: Novus Posterus

**Epilogue**

**"Novus Posterus"**

**A/N: **Code will henceforth be referred to as Cody.

**_October 10th_**

Cody sighed as he finished unpacking his new computer desk and sat down Indian style to read over the instructions. He began to arrange the pieces according to the diagram and distributed the screws around the mess he'd made. This wasn't so hard…

He was constantly keeping himself busy as it helped to keep his mind off of what had happened only a month ago. According to Casius, the physical mind permanently stored the memories and personality of a person while the soul just empowered the body and provided a host of instincts and experience from past lives. The Realm Lord did admit however, that he had never encountered a case like Cody's.

He'd said that because in the days following Ashani's death, Cody had begun to act differently. There would be flashes of memories that weren't his, certain images would stir emotions deep down inside of him that never had before and he had several strange nuances and tendencies now as well. Like, for example after Carey Martin had rented this spacious apartment in light of the fact that the Tipton was now uninhabitable Cody attempted to make it more secure by adding a redundant alarm system. Then there was also his compulsion towards stocking up on non-perishable foods and making sure they had plenty of medical supplies.

Carey was concerned by this strange behavior, but didn't do anything about it. She just accepted it and hoped that he would talk with her when he was ready. Zack however had approached Cody several times asking him what was wrong, to which Cody had finally snapped, _'I've got another person's life in my head!'_ on their last encounter which prompted Casius's examination.

Casius concluded that some of Future Cody's memories had been imprinted onto his soul in the seconds before he'd sacrificed himself to kill Ashani and now they were a part of Cody too since his own soul had been destroyed and replaced by that of his future self's soul.

Cody tossed the instructions aside with a hiss of disgust and leaned back against his new bed. He liked his new room, though it was a bit disconcerting as for the first time in his life he didn't have to share it with his twin brother. He felt a little lonely at times with no one to talk to quietly just before falling asleep or how Zack's presence in the room meant that he could never fully run away from his problems. There was always someone to talk to.

"Cody?" Lily asked as she appeared standing just outside his open doorway with a couple glasses of lemonade in her hands, "Would you like something to drink?"

"Yes please," He replied, patting the carpet next to him, inviting her to join him. Cody was glad for the distraction. Lily was a constant source of companionship these days as she was staying with the Martin's now. Even though the two of them were still working out their relationship together, for Cody had strong feelings for her and many rather embarrassing memories, Lily was family now and Carey had joyously accepted her into their home.

Shortly after leaving the battle ground, the Children of Light had regrouped at Dante's mansion and broke the news to the Lily. She was devastated of course, but Lily had let slip an important piece of information while she had been crying. It all had something to do with her last moments with her lover and she retold it to all of them…

* * *

_"Your friends," Lily explained, "They're making final preparations for the defense of Earth and I think you need to be there."_

_ "Sounds important," Cody teased her, his spirits greatly lifted by her presence. She slapped him playfully on the shoulder and then shoved him out of bed._

_ "Get going you!"_

_ "Ok ok! I'm going, I'm going!" He exclaimed hurriedly as she mimed hitting him with a pillow. Just before he left the room however, she called out to him._

_ "Cody?"_

_ "Yeah Lil?"_

_ "Do you remember when we spent the night in front of the fire on Christmas?" _

_ "Yeah," He replied, leaning against the door frame. As if he needed reminding of one of the happiest moment of their lives together, "I wouldn't say no to another night like that."_

_ Lily smiled even as she blushed slightly. She opened her mouth to say something, then shut it as she tried to keep herself from laughing and made shooing motions instead. Cody raced back over to the bed, planted a kiss on her forehead and then retreated quickly out of the bedroom before she could swipe at him. She didn't follow, choosing instead to watch the spot where she had last seen him for a moment before flopping down on the sheets with a tired sigh._

"I didn't tell him…" She sobbed. Oddly it was Max who was consoling her as Zack and Cody were both in varying degrees of shock over the experiences of the past few hours, "I didn't want to distract him, but now he'll never know!"

"What did you want to tell him?" Max asked in a soothing tone, gently rubbing the other girl's back as she cried into her shoulder.

"He was going to be a father!"

Zack had glanced up in surprise, but quickly moved to his brother's side before he had a chance to process this startling admission as Cody had simply fainted. Carey dropped down next to her son and pulled him into her arms, gently shaking him to wake him up.

* * *

"How did the Doctor's visit go?" Cody asked. He took a sip of Lily's homemade lemonade, enjoying the heavenly taste as he waited for an answer. Having spent the first three months with child in the future, there had been no experienced medical care to examine her, but now that she was in the past she was taking advantage of it. Today was also the big day as she was far enough along now in her pregnancy for the Doctor to determine the baby's sex.

"The baby and I are completely healthy," Lily answered, then when Cody continued giving her a hard questioning look she asked, "Are you sure you want to know? Some parents like the surprise."

"I'm not too fond of surprises anymore…" Cody muttered. Finding out that he was an immortal human being with the ability to tap into the cosmic power of light was enough of a surprise to last him for a lifetime.

"Oh, well then," Lily gently ran her hand over her stomach, "It's a beautiful baby boy." Cody returned her smile, a rarity for him these days.

"That's wonderful!" Cody felt uneasy, but he was happy for her. He felt conflicted because while he hadn't physically fathered this child, he had the other Cody's memories of the Christmas night Lily had described doing just that. She was technically a stranger to him and yet, he felt that he loved her very much and was calmed by her presence. They had been spending time together, but had shared nothing more than friendly hugs and a cuddle or two.

"I wonder what we should name him?" Lily wondered aloud, moving her hand aside to let Cody feel her stomach. The baby wasn't noticeably moving just yet, but he would be soon enough.

"Matthew," Cody said simply, surprised how easily it came to him.

"You remember him?" Lily asked, excited at the possibility of her Cody's memories returning. She felt a bit guilty though, it wasn't fair to this boy sitting next to her to hope that he would ever be the same person.

"I remember that he protected us and that he was very brave and kind. Matt found himself thrust into the invasion just like the rest of us, but he didn't run like the others. He stood his ground protecting the weak and the innocent until the very end like a true hero."

"Matthew is a good name," Lily agreed, "How do you feel about James?"

"James?"

"My father, James Redmond."

"Oh, that's fine too."

"Can he have your name too?" Lily asked, momentarily confusing Cody. Just how many names was she going to give the poor child? Then, seeing his confusion, Lily continued, "Matthew James Martin?"

"I don't think it would be right if I didn't agree. I would never dishonor the memory of Matthew's father like that." Lily nodded, pleased with his decision.

"Thank you Cody."

"I just have one request…"

"Anything."

"Keep him away from Zack if you don't want to be getting called into the Principal's office all the time," Cody said, fighting to hold back laughter as he remembered all the times his twin got into trouble over the wild pranks he always pulled. Lily, who had heard many of these stories in the past few weeks agreed and then shared in the laughter he could no longer contain.

Life might not be so bad after all Cody mused as he wiped tears of mirth from his eyes.

* * *

Zack plopped down into a chair at an outdoor café he had begun to visit with increasing frequency. It was a pleasant part of town, not too congested with traffic and a comfortable distance from the quarantined section of Boston that had been obliterated a month ago by the battle with the Chaos Realm. It was cool out, fall was noticeably in full swing as the trees lining the sidewalk had turned varying shades of yellow, and he had dressed appropriately in a pair of khaki cargo pants and a black sweater.

To anyone who knew him well, they would have been surprised at his current image. His clothes were spotlessly clean without a wrinkle in them; his hair was cut shorter than usual and combed neatly while anyone near him would smell a faint hint of his apple scented shampoo and body wash. These outward changes had been partially brought on by the new discipline in his life Kasen had given him and now Casius was continuing with numerous training sessions and workout regimens.

_'You're trying to impress a girl…'_ a little voice inside of his head whispered, keeping Zack honest. In truth he had taken to wandering around his new home on his free time and had found this place purely by accident. After he'd met this beautiful waitress one day, he started coming back with increasing frequency and had become a regular at the establishment.

Maya usually worked on Friday afternoons after school and now, sitting at one of her tables, Zack hoped she would be here. He liked talking to her. She was funny, intelligent and not afraid to be smart with him. She was a refreshing change from Cody's constant gloominess and Lily's anxiety over her unborn child.

"Hey Zack, what'll it be?" Maya asked as she snuck up from behind him, pen and paper in hand to take his order. She looked lovely even in the black slacks and casual blue dress shirt that was her uniform, what with her long flowing brown hair, chocolate brown eyes and all.

"A date with you," he said flirtatiously. Maya smirked at him and scribbled something on her pad.

"Club sandwich and a coke, anything else?"

"Ok, how about lunch right now then?"

"I'll have an Iced Tea," she replied, adding it to his bill while she walked away. Zack's eyes followed her until she disappeared inside. She was playing hard to get again and he thought he'd rather come to enjoy this game. Maya would often sit and chat with him when she didn't have other customers and judging by the looks of things, today would be another of those times.

A few minutes later Maya returned with their drinks and his sandwich. She joined him as he'd hoped and started squeezing some lemon juice into her tea. Zack sipped his coke as he watched her. She caught him looking and stared back.

"You're such a goof ball," She said, stirring her tea, "How's your brother."

"Being a buzz kill as usual," Zack joked.

"So, that new movie 'City of Ember' comes out tonight."

"Does it?" Zack asked, playing dumb. He knew full well she wanted to go see it and that she hated going to the movies alone. She was an orphan, living with foster parents who were always too busy for her and the constant shuffling around from place to place had made her nearly give up forming friendships altogether. She was as lonely as Zack, but wouldn't admit it to him directly.

"Yes, and you're taking me to see it."

"Am I now?" Zack asked, continuing the act but unable to stop a small grin from breaking out on his face. Maya reached across the table and swatted him playfully.

"This is your one chance Romeo, don't blow it."

"That story didn't end very well you know," Zack pointed out.

"Good thing we don't have overbearing parents trying to keep us apart," Maya countered. Zack smiled at her wit and finally agreed to taking her out. She gave him her address and phone number and told him any time after six was fine with her. They talked for a little while longer until more customers started arriving and sitting in her section.

"Thanks Zack," Maya said as she stood up to leave.

"For?" He wondered, slightly confused since they had been talking about nonsense stuff for the past few minutes.

"I dunno, just thanks."

_Women…_

Maya suddenly bent over and pecked him on the cheek. A flush of warmth crept across his face and down his neck. Zack touched the spot where her lips had been and smiled in triumph.

_Women!_

_

* * *

_Jarran surreptitiously checked his reflection one more time, straightening the collar of his shirt. He looked normal enough to pass inspection on Earth, though there was nothing that could be done about his pale complexion. As Chaos was an underground world, its people were never exposed to ultraviolet rays.

He shrugged off the thought and turned to inspect the contents of the backpack he was taking along with him. There were a couple changes of clothes, some hygiene items, water bottles and some rations, a wad of American dollars, photographs of his new friends in Boston and various notes and maps he'd made with the help of Clara over the past few weeks.

Now that the Chaos Realm was stable again in the wake of Ashani's death, Jarran felt that it was safe enough to do some traveling. With Earth's defenses back up at full strength, he could only enter the Light Realm with Casius's permission and would be unable to freely travel between the worlds as he had done during the invasion. As such, once on Earth he was stuck there until he asked Casius to allow him to leave and for the duration of his stay, his power would be incredibly weak. Very little darkness penetrated into Earth now, meaning that Jarran would barely be a step above normal mortals. He was apprehensive about that fact, but still determined to go through with his plan.

"I wish you wouldn't go. You still need a lot of training to reach your father's level," Pandora said from the doorway of his bedroom.

"I know," Jarran agreed as he started packing away the items laid out on his bedspread, "But this is something I have to do. It's important to me."

"I'm not one to argue with my Demon Lord. I'm really just worried about your safety."

"Don't worry Pandy, I'll be ok," Jarran assured her as he hitched his backpack over his shoulder, "How do I look?"

"Older…" Pandora said critically, "So grown up now." Jarran smiled, accepting the compliment. He walked towards the door and Pandora fell in step beside him, draping her arm across his shoulders.

"Take care of the Realm while I'm gone ok?"

"Don't worry little Jarran, it will be in good hands," she replied, playfully mocking him.

In short order, they had made their way outside of the Imperial Palace and Jarran bade his final goodbye as he walked out onto the grass.

"See you soon Pandy!"

"Good luck with your search. Come home soon my young Demon Lord." Jarran smiled once again and then slipped into the shadows. He reached up and grabbed his jade green pendant, speaking softly to it.

"Take me home."

His body turned into shadow and transitioned across the fabric of reality into the flow of darkness that existed all around the Chaos Realm. He reached out for the brilliant supernova of light that was Earth, amazed at how it repelled the darkness so completely. Soon he could go no further and his essence bounced off of the shield around the gleaming blue-green planet.

"Hello Jarran," Casius's voice said, seeming to come from all around him.

"I wish to visit," Jarran thought aloud as he no longer had a mouth to form the words.

"Very well, safe travels."

"Thank you."

A small window opened in the defenses around Earth and Jarran entered through it, feeling it close behind him and cutting him off from the flow of darkness. He truly was on his own now.

With startling suddenness, Jarran's body reformed and he blinked in the brilliant sunlight of the Earth Realm. Wherever he was, it was an incredibly hot and dry place. He looked around and saw desert mesa's all around him as well as a large city gleaming orange and red in the late afternoon sunlight. There was a road laden with traffic leading towards it and a green and white sign standing just a dozen feet away.

_'Phoenix, Arizona: City Limit' _

Jarran touched his pendant with two fingers and felt the charge of energy that ran through it. It was resonating with something ahead of him. It had never done that before. He hoped it was a sign that he wasn't mistaken in his assumptions…

When he'd spoken with Lily days before the final battle, she'd spoken of an event in the future where his father had apologized to a woman named 'Marissa' while he gently touched the cheek of his dead son. Jarran shivered at the thought of himself lying dead with his father mourning over his body. It just didn't fit the man Jarran had known all of his life.

But that was the clue that had started this all… Marissa was not a Chaos Realm name, but it was a very popular Earth Realm name. Jarran dared to hope that this was the name of his long lost mother and if by some chance it wasn't, then hopefully she would have some answers for him.

Jarran looked back to the skyline of Phoenix, hitched his backpack up on his shoulder once again and started forward with new sense of optimism.

"I'll find you mother. I promise."

* * *

**A/N:** Novus Posterus – Latin, meaning 'New Future'

Cody is left to deal with the haunting memories and thoughts of his future self. As he struggles to understand who he really is, he is also burdened by the knowledge that (in a sense) he will soon be a father.

Zack has come out of the invasion with a new sense of purpose in his life, but old habits die hard as he begins to date Maya. He continues to train under Casius, but in his spare time he tries to be as normal as possible by going out with girls and taking care of his troubled twin brother.

Jarran is the new Demon Lord of the Chaos Realm and now that he's gotten everything settled in the wake of Ashani's downfall, he sets off on a quest to Earth in the hope that he can locate his mother in order to bring closure to his life now that the only parent he's ever known is gone.

And with that said, the second story in the Chaos Series comes to a close. I hope you have all enjoyed the prequel to, and the rewrite of, the original story that started off my writing here at . From here on out I'll be entering unknown waters as I move into the planning stage of the third story in the series.

The story of our heroes Zack, Cody and Jarran continues in the third installment of the Chaos Series: Legend of the Black Knight.

Thank you to all of my readers for sticking with the story. Special thanks go out to Tiger, WaldoJeffers, Wyntirsno and OwlHero for giving their time by reviewing the chapters, beta reading, posting ideas/feedback in the Chaos forums and generally picking my brain on the series.

If you liked this, please nominate and vote for **_The Chaos Demons_** in the Suite Life 2010 awards. It is eligible for Best: Author, Story, Brotherly Love, Character Development, Traumatic Experience (Zack dying in Chapter 16), Tear Jerker, Villain, Battle, Cliffhanger, Unexpected Scene, Adventure/Fantasy/Suspense, OC (Jarran, duh!) and Series (with **_Truth Seeker_** as the prequel). Phew!

Taking a break for now, but I hope to see you all again soon!

**_~ Kulmanari_**

Coming Soon, Chaos Series: Part Three – **_"Legend of the Black Knight"_**

_The warning signs were all there, I just ignored them. I mean after all we've been through I just thought Cody was finally enjoying life again. Little did I know that everything I held dear to me was about to be ripped away…_


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